Filo, Fall 2012

FILĂ’

A Quarterly for Tyrolean Americans Fall 2012

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An Introduction . . .

The Filò is to be published and distributed on a quarterly basis and is targeted to the children of our immigrant parents. The Filò (pronounced fee-lò) was the daily gathering in the stables of the Trentino where the villagers met and socialized. The intent is to provide a summary of our culture, history, and customs in plain English to inform and provide you with the background of your roots and ancestry.. If you wish to contact us, call Lou Brunelli at 914-402-5248. Attention: Your help is needed to expand our outreach to fellow Tyrolean Americans. Help us identify them, be they your children, relatives or acquaintances. Go to filo.tiroles.com and register on line to receive the magazine free of charge. You may also send your data to Filò Magazine, PO Box 90, Crompond, NY 10517 or fax them to 914-734-9644 or submit them by email to filo.tiroles@att.net.

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Bishops & Barbarians . . .

After the fall of the Roman Empire, the Trentino found itself at the nexus of the forces that would define Europe for the next several hundred years: the growth of Christianity and the waves of Barbarian Invasions. After Rome’s secular and spiritual authority broke down, both Church and State sought to reestablish order in this fluid and volatile environment. The Tyrol, lying midway between the remnants of Roman and Mediterranean and the new Barbarian Kingdoms had a central role in this drama.

During this time, few made as significant an impact as St. Vigilius, the first bishop of Trento. Born a Roman patrician, and an associate and correspondent of early Catholic Fathers St. Ambrose and St. John Chrysostom, Vigilius led efforts to spread Christianity throughout the region as well as establishing the infrastructure of the newly created bishopric. He had a classical education, studying at both Athens and Rome before joining his brothers Claudian Fresco of St. Vigilius, First Bishop of Trento and Magorian in the Trentino in 380 AD. He shepherded other missionaries including Sisinnius, Martyrius and Alexander, who were famously martyred in Sanzeno, Val di Non. Although he honored these missionaries by recovering their remains and sending their relics to Milan and Constantinople, he showed magnanimity to the accused, pardoning them. This was consistent with his apostolic philosophy: “vincere soccombendo” -- “winning by succumbing.” Vigilius tried to win converts not through threats or force, but by personal, pacific example. Although the circumstances of his death are disputed, legend holds that he was martyred in the Val Rendena preaching against the worship of the pagan god, Saturn.

One of Vigilius’ associates, St. Romedius, is also a popular figure in Trentino and Church lore. Romedius, often portrayed with a muzzled bear, was a hermit-missionary active in the Val di Non. Once, while setting out to visit Vigilius in Trento, his horse was torn apart by a local bear. Romedius ordered that his cloak be set on the bear, who became immediately tame, allowing Romedius to ride the bear all the way to Trento. Fittingly, the Trentino boasts one of the few bears still living in the wild in the Brenta Dolomite Natural Park! In addition, the shrines in the Val di Non around Romedius’ hermitage exhibit critical artistic artifacts detailing the transition from the Roman-Byzantine style to the more realistic Romanesque-style characteristic of the Middle Ages throughout the rest of Europe.

Following the fall of Rome, the first Barbarian group to establish authority was the Goths under Theodoric, but they were not able to hold onto power long as they became squeezed between the newly reformed Byzantine Empire around Venice and the expanding Frankish kingdom. The Lombards replaced the Goths and ruled Northeastern Italy for the next two centuries from Lombardy in the West to the Veneto and Friuli in the East. The first Count of Trento, Euin, attempted to maintain the balance by forging alliances and marriages with the Baiuvarii (“Bavarians”) to the north.

However, political arrangements were fluid and the Lombard counts of Trento often found themselves in conflicts. Alahis, another Trentino Count, attempted to created an independent Trentino state, but was unsuccessful.

The regional infighting ended with the establishment of the Frankish Kingdom under Charlemagne that created the antecedent of the Holy Roman Empire. However, even in this, the Trentino was a central setting, as the Passo Carlomagno attests -- Charlemagne, on his way to his coronation Burial Artifact from the Lombard Period by the Pope, passed through the Trentino with his retinue. Still, many of the Lombard Tradition believed that a chicken local powers continued as the “castellani” that can be seen in the many casshould be tied to feet of the deceased tles throughout the province.

Christian Brunelli 6

Ex Voto: Faith Expressed in Art

The Trentino has a special expression of our people’s faith expressed artistically on votive tablets, the Ex Voto. An ex-voto is a votive offering to a saint or to God. It is given in fulfillment of a vow (hence the Latin term, short for ex voto suscepto, "from the vow made") or in gratitude or devotion. Ex-votos are placed in a church or chapel where the worshiper seeks grace or wishes to give thanks. When an illness seemed not to have a remedy or recourse, when the “medicine” was a science simply not available, the unfortunates, those who were ill would make a covenant with the divinity. The Ex Voto tablet was a testimonial of a supernatural intervention in the face of ever present dangers and death itself. These tablets or framed pictures depict scenes painted in oils or tempera or drawn in pencil commemorating grace received in cases of illness, accident or danger giving evidence of their piety and devotion. They were commissioned by individuals or even communities from mostly unknown painters to record a “miracle” of which they had been the protagonist and beneficiaries. They hang on the walls of sanctuaries and side altars communicating the popular devotion or religious faith of our villages, the gratitude expressed by simple people to the saints or to those persons to whom they turned in times of needs. These Ex Voto tablets have their expressive expositions in some of the major sanctuaries of devotion in the Tyrol. They include Montagnaga di Pine` (see article on page 29) S. Romedio, S. Valentino of Ala, S. Croce di Bleggio, the Madonna del Monte in Rovereto, l`Addolorata a Cavalese, the Madonna dell`Aiuto a Fiera di Primiero, the chapel of S. Antonio in Albiano; the Madonna of the Baselga of Bresimo, S. Vigilio of Tione…to name but a few.

These objects are considered “humble” art yet they served as expressive symbols, megaphones announcing and proclaiming a special and blessed happening. It is within this world of legend, of piety and faith that ex votos recount the stories of common folk. The creators of these pictures never claimed to have created works of art but they are strikingly beautiful as well as being a precious testimony of the everyday life a bygone age.

In 1981 in Trento, there was an exhibition and a survey of the ex voto tablets that had been produced between 16th to the 19th century. There were approximately 1000 ex voto objects. In the parish church of S. Anna at Montagnaga di Pine`, 400 ex voto tablets were destroyed due to the negligence of the parish priest that had situated candles under the tablets. In the Valsugana, the ex votos were gathered in chapels in the country side where there had resided hermits. When the hermits had to leave these places by degree of the Emperor Joseph II of Vienna at the end of the 18th century, the more “precious” objects were stolen by thieves. This happened in all too many places. In summary, these historic tablets document a world of customs that has now disappeared but provide a glimpse of the historic and traditional religiosity of our people.

Alberto Folgheraiter — author of I Sentieri dell`Infinito-Storia dei Santuari del Trentino-Alto Adige

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The Farmer’s Priest

The life of our ancestors was extremely difficult and they struggled to eke out a living out of the small plots of land assigned to them with the backwardness of their methods of cultivation. In 1882 and 1885, there occurred severe natural disasters: severe flooding and new and difficult plant diseases: downey mildew and oidium. Added to this was the silkworm pebrine that destroyed the silkworm and that wiped out the cottage or individual home industry of silkworm cultivation. Political forces also combined to increase the economic woes of the Italian Tyrol. The Risorgimento ot the war of “reunification� of a new state of Italy, removed from the common empire both of the Trentino’s neighbors: Lombardy and the Veneto, their traditional trading partners under the regime of the Austrian Hungarian Empire. The Trentino was forced to revert to the borders of 1796 when it belonged to the feudal domain of the Principato of Trento and Bressanone. Thus, custom duties were imposed increasing the hardships. Moreover, the inoculation against small pox increasing the economic hardships by an unexpected increase in population. Emigration became an inevitable and harsh necessity The combination of all these circumstances created the great migration to the USA and to our very own community, the Tyrolean Americans

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The work of Don Lorenzo Guetti (1847-18989), the priest that was responsible for the spread of the Cooperative system throughout the Trentino. He established “Famiglie Cooperative� (Family Cooperatives) and the “Casse Rurali� (Rural banks).

These two entities were fundamental instruments for the survival and well being of the people. They were like beneficial rivers that brought life, liberation, dignity and survival and hope in a period of great misery, odious poverty and the lack of any future for the Trentini people of that time.

There is a story that deserves to be remembered and retold for everyone, including the readers of the Filo`, that want to better understand the past which becomes ever more distant but continues to emerge to add a freshness and a vitality to the many are heirs of the history.The time that we refer to is the secmen and women who ond part of the 1800’s (1850-1900) and the place is the Trentino or Tyrol, part of the Principesca Contea del Tirolo that succeeded the Principato of Trento and Bressanone, the feudal state of the Bishops that had endured for 800 years ending in 1776 then succeeded by the Austrian Hungarian Empire.

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The dream and mission of the Cooperative Movement was that of a humble but talented priest from Vigo Lomaso in the Val of the Giudicarie Esteriori. The birth of this Movement was the spark of an economic, social and spiritual rival for the Italian Tyrol. This area depended solely on the cultivation of everything from cereals and grains to fruit trees, from cultivating pastures for the grazing of animals, to the harvesting of wood from the mountain sides, to cultivation of their animals..cows and goats.. to create their dairy products, to their pigs for meat, to cultivation of mulberry trees and silk worm. Yet these many and varied pursuits remained individual to the particular contadino and lacked the capital investments and the specialization of industrial production. In context of all these economic, social and spiritual upheavals, Don Guetti was a real spring of fresh water, a flower to combat the universal dryness.

Fr. Marcello Farina is a priest, high school teacher of philosophy, an adjunct professor at the University of Trent, author of many books including E per un uomo la terra regarding the life and work of Don Guetti.

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The Sanctuaries: Madonna di Pinè There are many sanctuaries in the Trentino and we will explore them in the Filò.

The sanctuary of the Madonna di Pinè of Montagnaga of Pinè is the most well known one in the Trentino. Here is its story....Domenica Targa, born in 1699, lived in the small village of Varda, the daughter of poor peasant farmers. She assisted her family pasturing their animals. In 1729 and 1730, she is reported to have had five visions of the Virgin Mary. Many would not acknowledge the assertions of Domenica especially the pastor of Baselga of Pinè who would not even listen to her and demanded that she remain silent. Nonetheless, word got around the Trentino so that the curious began making their way to Montagnaga and along with Statues of Madonna and Domenica these visitors there came donations to reconstruct the ancient chapel of St. Anne originally built in the 16th century. A new phenomenon occurred in association with the chapel. there came the obsessives, possessed and convulsed which the people regarded as “ndemoniadi o spiritadi”...the possessed and spirited people. These people came to Montagnaga to receive special blessings and be “liberated from the demons.”

When Domenica Targa died on October 25, 1784, she was buried in the church of St Anna, in the very place where she had declared that she had seen visions of Mary on three occasions. With the passage of time and with the multiplication of events and episodes considered miraculous, the sanctuary of Montagnaga became the focus of attention and devotion. In 1816, there occurred “l`an dela fam”, the year of the hunger..famine that gripped the Trentino, the people of Montagnaga gained an approval from the Church to enlarge the Church of St. Anna. Despite the hardships of the times, the restorations went forward and continued until 1880. Luigi Church of St. Anna Liberi was the architect that provided the grand design. Bishop Gian Giacomo della Bona consecrated the new church and final decorations and restorations were completed in 1929, the second centennial of the apparitions. The field where the apparitions occurred the field “della Comparsa” was bought by private individuals and added to the sanctuary. They also had cast a bronze statue of the Madonna e the young peasant girl. There was added a large painting that was “crowned” by Bishop Eugenio Carlo Valussi and placed in the parochial church of St. Anna. To celebrate the centennial remembrance of the apparitions, the same Bishop erected a memorial cross on the adjacent mountain tops. Don Giuseppe Zanotelli erected a monument dedicated to the Holy Redeemer by adding a devotional set of 28 steps that lead to a replica of a large crucifix, a copy of the crucifix that is venerated in the cathedral of Trento.

Although the Catholic Church has never recognized the authenticity of the alleged visions, every year there arrive no less than 200,000 pilgrims to visit and pray at the Comparsa. Hundreds of devotional pictures (Ex Voto) covered the sanctuary walls like a great tapestry of St Anna. The more ancient of these devotional framed images refer to exorcisms, deliverance from evil spirits and cures from man-made and aniHoly Stairs of the Redeemer mal epidemics. While it is difficult, after three centuries, to know clearly what occurred in 1729-1730, there are thousands of testimonials of “grazie”. . . favors, hundreds of thousands of invocations, a devotion that has resisted the enormous changes of civilization and customs. Every year, “pilgrimages” from individual parishes, organized by the dioceses, of the young, the sick and the elderly come to the sanctuary of Pinè. None seem concerned about diocesan approvals for their heart felt devotion and this place of piety.

Alberto Folgheraiter is the author of many books regarding the Trentino. This article is an abstract from his definitive and colorful book I Sentieri dell`Infinito-Storia dei Santuari del Trentino-Alto Adige The Paths of the Infinite-The Story of the Sancutaries of the Trentino Alto-Adige sanctuaries.

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De Gasperi: A European Founder

Unquestionably, Alcide De Gasperi is not only most celebrated person from the Valsugana, a Valsuganotto…and the entire current Trentino…he is considered the most significant person in the creation of the modern European Union. To link him to us Tyrolean Americans, he was known to have said: Mi sun prestà` all`Italia..I lent myself to Italy…associating himself with the very same Tyrolean origins and identity of our forbearer immigrants in the USA. We have the good fortune of having a distinguished scholar and archivist of De Gasperi: Maurizio Gentilini. Here is his article, the first in a series to follow.

Probably Alcide De Gasperi is the most famous person coming from Trentino in the 20th century. De Gasperi was born the 3rd of April Pieve Tesino -- De Gasperi’s Birthplace 1881 in the village of Pieve Tesino in the Valsugana, a valley in the province of Trento, historically the Tyrol and part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. His father was a local police officer of limited financial means. The young De Gasperi was active in the social Christian movement and in the Catholic social organizations in Tyrol as well as in Austria where he attended the University of Vienna. In 1905 he graduated with a degree in philology and began to work as editor of the newspaper “La Voce Cattolica”, which was replaced in September 1906 by Il Trentino. In his newspaper he often advocated strongly in favor of an administrative and cultural autonomy for Sud Tirol or the Welch Tirol. At the same time he helped establish the Partito Popolare Trentino, for which he was elected to the Austrian Parliament in 1911. He was firmly neutralist during the First World War, which he spent in Vienna.

When the Sud Tirol or the Tyrol was annexed to Italy in 1919 at the conclusion of the World World War as part of the post-war settlement, he became an Italian citizen, and became the founder-member of the Italian Popular Party led by Don Luigi Sturzo, an activist cleric in the transition of Italy from fascism. Elected to the Chamber of Deputies in 1921, he initially supported the participation of his party in Mussolini's first government in October 1922, but was soon in conflict with the Fascists. He opposed the constitutional changes to the powers of the executive, the election system, and the Fascist violence against the constitutional parties. The pressures of Fascism divided the Italian Popular Party, and De Gasperi became Secretary of the remaining anti-Fascist Popolari in May 1924. In November 1926, in a climate of overt violence and intimidation by the Fascists, his party was dissolved by order of the Ministry of the Interior. De Gasperi attempted to escape into exile and was arrested and imprisoned. After his release in May 1928, he was unemployed and in serious financial hardship, until in May 1929 the Archbishop of Trento Celestino Endrici , life long confidant secured him a job as a cataloguer in the Vatican Library, where Alcide De Gasperi he spent the next fourteen years until the collapse of Fascism in July 1943.

During World War II De Gasperi became active in the underground, was one of the founders of the illegal Christian Democratic Party (Democrazia Cristiana, and founded the newspaper “Il Popolo”. After the liberation of Italy in June 1944, he served as minister “without portfolio” and subsequently as foreign minister; in December 1945 he became Premier, a post he held until 1953. As chief of the Italian delegation at the World War II Peace Conference in Paris, he elicited concessions from the Allies that guaranteed Italian sovereignty. After the formal end of the Italian monarchy in June 1946 and the proclamation of Republic, De Gasperi functioned as head of the Christian Democrats, the party that dominated Parliament for the next 8 years. As Premier during this critical postwar period, his diplomacy and political skills maneuvered to maintain a precarious and moderate balance between disparate elements within the party and the nation. By avoiding conflicts with the numerous Socialists and Communists, he 10

managed with great delicacy to put Italian democracy on a firm foundation. Besides his successful negotiations with the Allied Powers, his most striking achievement in foreign policy was the agreement with Austria (September 1946) to establish the southern Tirol as an autonomous region. De Gasperi's involvement in the post-war reconstruction was of critical importance for the future functioning of the new Italian state. During his period of office, Italy voted to become a republic (June 1946), the Peace Treaty was signed (February 1947), the Marshall Plan and other US support for Italy was agreed. The wartime coalition with the Communists and Socialists was ended (May 1947), and the new constitution came into force (January 1948). The Democrazia Cristiana won a majority in the first parliamentary elections (April 1948), and Italy joined NATO (1949). With the guiding hand of De Gasperi the government planned and built many of the critical and important reforms.

De Gasperi Monument -- Trento

His eight year tenure of office remains a landmark of political longevity for a leader in modern Italian politics. A gradualist and a firm believer in the importance of international alliances, he was a politician for whom the term "centrist" could have been coined. He was a good practical administrator and a deeply religious individual who hated dogmatism and abhorred extremism.

He is considered to be one of the Founding Fathers of the European Union, with the French and German statesmen Robert Schuman and Konrad Adenauer. He helped organize the Council of Europe and supported to the foundation of the European Coal and Steel Community (CECA) – a forerunner in the process of European integration. He was named president of the European Steel and Coal Community in 1954.

Although the project of European Union eventually failed, De Gasperi helped develop the notion and the very structure of a common European defense policy. In 1952 he received the Karlspreis (International Charlemagne Prize of the City of Aachen), an award by the German city of Aachen to people who contributed to the European idea and European peace.

When the Christian Democrats did not gain a majority in the elections of 1953, De Gasperi was unable to establish a workable cabinet and was forced to resign as premier. The following year he also had to leave the leadership of his party, and 2 months later, on Aug. 19th 1954, he died in his beloved Trentino. He is buried in Rome, in the Basilica di San Lorenzo outside the Walls. In 1993 the Catholic Church opened the process for his beatification.

De Gasperi is often regarded as one of the few undoubted statesmen of the Italian Republic, and as one of the most important founders of democracy in Italy and in Europe.

Maurizio Gentilini had been the archivist at Diocesan Archive of Trento, and now record manager of the National Research Council (CNR) in Rome, published many books and articles regarding De Gasperi and was the curator of the Museum of De Gasperi’s birth house in Pieve Tesino. He will be contributing a series of articles that can also be found in Wikipedia, to which he contributed his scholarship. In subsequent articles in the Filo, Maurizio will present us with the following topics: Early years in Trentino; The opposition of Fascism; De Gasperi Prime Minister; De Gasperi and the American support; De Gasperi and 1948 elections; De Gasperi founding father of Europe

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Women in Alpine Agriculture

Alpine women, especially those areas where there had occurred a great deal of emigration by men, engaged in the multi-faceted job of Alpine farming. Younger women tended cows and oxen as well as the flocks of sheep and goats while the older women cultivated the fields and crops, processing the sequences of chores to create and store hay for their animals without their neglecting their household tasks and families. This gave women more autonomy and independence in agriculture, previously carried out by men. In the Trentino, the emigration of the males was widespread. At first, seasonal migration to the Po Plain south then the migration spread to Central Europe. Finally, as conditions demanded, the males began their emigration from the Trentino to North and South America. Due to the wartime draft, womenfolk had assumed not only the ordinary tasks but traditional male tasks.

In reality, even when the men were present, the women were always quite busy. They bore many heavy loads on their shoulders and their heads or in the gerla, a basket Trentino Woman Tilling the Soil attached to their backs. The gerla was their companion even as little girls, the balancing rod to carry pails of water from the fontane, the one and only source of water in the village. On their backs, they carried large hay nets down from the fields to the haylofts above their homes. Their tasks and obligations away from the hearth of the home were many and varied: they sowed seeds, attended to fertilizing the fields, they harvested crops, milked the cows and goats, attended to their vegetable garden, they shucked corn, harvested the crops, took care of the stables refreshing the farlet, the bed of hay and leaves for the animals, fed the animals, grew flax seed and hemp and performing all the successive tasks to render the canepa into twine to make chairs. All these were the tasks and the functions of the women. Most of the haymaking process was exclusively the skills of the women. After the men cut the grass, the wives, mothers-in-law and daughters as well as the younger children of the family spread the grasses to dry them, turning them over several times before stacking it for the evening. Hence, the many steps of the haymaking involved the gathering of the hay, its rotation, gathering it in large nets (see illustration), bringing it in from the fields and arranging it in their haylofts situated on the upper levels of their homes. All these difficult and time consuming tasks were the work of the women of the household. In the Trentino, in particular the Vallagrina, there was a specific and exclusive function of the women: the cultivation of mulberry trees and silkworms which was usually inside the homes of these “women farmers.” The difficult and demanding work involved the selection of the seed and Gathering the Hay the incubation and rearing of the silkworms.

Obviously, these functions were integrated into in all that was entailed in their domestic economy and household management…the daily tasks and the feeding of their families, educating children in manners and religious education. A task particularly assigned to the women. Women were seen as the guardian of family traditions. Her activities were fundamental to the social relationships of the family and the transmission of the ethical and cultural values across generations. This was the “female role and function” in the Alps: a love for the work and the family, sacrifice and physical fatigue of the tireless Alpine woman.

Daniela Finardi - Daniela Finardi, Communications Dept -Museo degli Usi e Costumi della Gente Trentina 12

Castel Pergine: Guardian of the Valley The Tyrol…now the Trentino is a land of mountains, extraordinary views, of forests, of waterfalls and meadows…and a land of castles, many castles.. more than any where else in all of Europe. Their castles reflect lands that never had a king but Emperors and Lords and feudal Bishops and Castellani that ruled sometimes sections and often the entire territory. The castles offer a distinctive atmosphere where you quickly discern as you go through the massive entrances; walk through the lists where tournaments were once held and enter frescoed rooms where the shadows might cloak the presence of figures from distinct legend. They are castles whose ruins, encountered unexpectedly on walks through the countryside, radiate mystery. Their square stones bring to life the Castel Pergine shouts of soldiers who once guarded the walls and the loud cries of the grooms in the stables and the soft voices of the knights keeping a vigil in a castle chapel….One such splendid castle is the imposing Castel Pergine.

Castel Pergine dominates the whole Alta Valsugana and the city of Pergine. It sits conspicuously and dominantly on a high hill and overlooking the valley strategically protecting and guarding the once ancient and significant Via Claudia Augusta. It was the Roman road that linked the valley of the Po River with Rhaetia (modern Southern Germany) across the Alps. In 15 BC, the Roman general Nero Claudius Drusus, the adopted son of Augustus, got orders from his stepfather to improve the passage through the Alps for military purposes and to increase Roman control over Rhaetia and Noricum.[3] The project of converting a pack-animal trail to serve wheeled vehicles was completed sixty years later in 46-47 AD by the son of Drusus, the Emperor Claudius. People and goods could pass between the Adriatic and the broad valley of the Po to Tridentum (modern Trento), then north- Margaret Maultasch ward following the Adige up to Pons Drusi, the "bridge of Drusus" which developed into Bolzano. Castel Pergine rises on the site of an old prehistoric fortress which later became a Roman settlement..and which became Pergine Valsugana. It was transformed into a Longobard stronghold. The castle in its present form was erected in the 13th century and belonged to the Dukes of Austria under the reign of Margaret Maultasch, and then to the Emperor Maximilian I. Margaret, Countess of Tyrol was the last Countess of Tyrol. Upon her death, the Tyrol became united with the hereditary lands of the House of Habsburg. In 1531, it became the property of the Bishop of Trento Bernardo Cles, the great manager of the Council of Trent.

Bernardo Cles The bishop of Trent was not only a bishop and “prince” of the church but a true Prince, a feudal prince of the Principato of Trento that ruled for 800 years prior to the Austrian Hungarian dominance of 200 years ending in 1918.

The castle boasts two surrounding walls: a medieval part, comprising the defensive features, such as the keep and the towers, and the Renaissance residential quarters. A very unusual historical and architectural highlight is the huge octagonal pillar supporting the vaulted ceiling of the entrance hall. Other interesting features include, the so-called Prigione della Goccia (Prison of the Drop), the Camera del Camino (the Fireplace Room), which is notorious since popular legends have it that the ghost of a mysterious lady in white, la Dama Bianca, has been known to have appeared Notable also is the Sala del Trono (Throne Room) and the Chapel of St. Andrew on the first floor. The five rooms on the second floor and the garden are used exhibition venues.

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Castel Pergine

Our Emigration: the “Miseria”

Renzo Grosselli is a noted journalist of the Adige and author of many books. He has studied, researched and written about the migration phenomena of the Trentino. He will be providing us with on-going features of how our people needed to leave their beloved villages and valleys and recreate their lives and establish their lives and create families here in the USA. Around 1875-1900, the time of the “great emigration”, in the Italian Tyrol more than 20% of the children died prior to they were one year old. Tuberculosis and pellagra afflicted the valleys and the towns. This might very well be the picture that explains why thousands of Trentini left their lands to emigrate to other European countries and in America…in the USA more than anywhere else.

We deal with that “misery” which has always been considered the reason of every migratory wave. What was this “misery”? It is best to explain it by the analysis of the commentators of that era, the commentators in the specialized journals, the medical journals or the scientific journals that were present in a very poor area but was strictly connected and tied to Middle Europe, part of that Empire of Austria and Hungary to which the peasant class was sincerely and emotionally attached. The first information that springs to our eyes, in the various publications, was that of the infant mortality rate. In the varied districts of the Italian Tyrol, the rate fluctuated in 1880 and 1890 between 18% and 24.5%. One child in every five died prior to his first year. What were the causes? More than 20% of the new born would die from an illness that the doctors defined as “congenital weakness”. But what were we dealing with? Here is a diagnosis of one such doctor. “The skin is withered, the stare is semi-alert, the brow is wrinkled, as if there had occurred the difficulties of life; they do not have even the breath to cry.” The coloring was yellow and the children of several months were not able to remain seated since they had not the strength. It was a death tied not only to hunger but to a severe malnutrition. These young ones were the children of mothers who were themselves undernourished and who had to work exceedingly hard in the fields and in their homes, all the way up to the birth itself. They resumed this difficult regime of work shortly after their delivery, while still not full recovered. Those newborn, therefore, who were still breast feeding, were fed with a breast milk of little caloric content so that in the mountainous areas, the breast feeding lasted just several weeks and we learned that the premature weaning was often the cause of their deaths.

There was yet another endangering illness: tuberculosis, diffused primarily in the lower valleys. In the major centers: Trento, Rovereto and Riva del Garda, in the last decades of the nineteenth century there were the greatest incidents of the disease up to 10% of the population. But conditions were getting worse. The doctors, in fact, since tuberculosis was considered a “shameful” disease, often avoided the reporting, referring to the causes with euphemisms.

Consumption was killing young people between 18 and 35 primarily. Yet another illness that was victimizing the valleys of the Trentino in the period of the great emigration: Pellagra. This illness about whose causes were not known was according to a study by a doctor from Rovereto. “It had three stages of development. At first, the patient saw his skin flake and dry on certain parts of the body exposed to the sun, elbows and knees. As a result, this weakened the patient and made it difficult to work. In the last phase, pellagra led to muscle atrophy, pulmonary tuberculosis, and in many cases even madness and suicide.” Only later did doctors and researchers discover that pellagra is caused by a vitamin deficiency. In the 1980’s, those afflicted with pellagra were 60,000 in Lombardy, 40,000 in the Veneto while there were no exact statistics in the Trentino. A study was attempted that found that 5% of the deceased in 14

Rovereto were due to pellagra and that 20% of the mental illness were due to the illness. A disturbing finding was found in Terragnolo in the Municipio near Rovereto. In 1896 there were 650 people afflicted with pellagra, 27% of the population. These individuals while working spend more than what they have and do not repair sufficiently the wear and tear of their work. They are contadini (farmers) who pay with their premature deaths this time imbalance and with the exercise of one of the most sacred and holy functions, their work, they dig fatally an early grave.

These were not the only sicknesses that afflicted the Italian Tyrol. Many children were dying of scarlet fever, diphtheria, measles, whooping cough, consumption. Widespread among all ages was scrofolosi, tuberculosis of the lymph nodes and rickets that was referred to as the dominant disease. Rickets created deformations of the bones in every part of the body. A doctor of that time wrote that among us the deformed flourish like mushrooms….Even this infirmity had as a principal cause bad nutrition. One lived poorly in the Trentino in second part of the 1800’s. In every one hundred children, there died 23 prior to their first year and 43 would die before their twentieth birthday. The median life expectancy was between 36 and 37 years of age.

Meanwhile the life expectancy of a German or French child was 43-45 year while a Scandinavian child was 48- 50 years. It was evident that such a situation was due to a complexity of conditions. Sanitary practices were not well known and there was an absence of medical practices and instruments. But the principal reason was nor the lack of such practices since in 1890 in the Trentino there was one physician for every 2770 inhabitants and 8 hospitals that had infirmaries in various valleys. In 1889 such infirmaries numbered 703, 408 midwives and in 1882 there was established the Association of Trentino Medical Practice.

Pellagra Victim

But it was a medical science at its very beginning and the cures to which the majority of Trentini, the farmers, resorted to were those of a typical nature tied to the use of herbs, to the practices of tiraossi (bone pullers-primitive chiropractic), and cavadenti (tooth pullers performed by blacksmiths) and those who treated sickness with magical-religious practices.

These were signals that indicated the transition from the “ancient world” to modernity. There were yet another significant cause for the diffusion of the sicknesses that devastated the population. These causes were connected with the type of habitation in which lived the Trentino peasant class but also the poorer urban classes: environments poorly heated, in a land that offered long and rigid winters, small rooms that were poorly ventilated. The houses were juxtaposed that did not allow the sun to enter; houses wherein was situated their stables, rooms in which they lived many hours every day, especially in the winter…gathered frequently for the real Filo`. The ally ways were replete with water that ran and carried with them garbage and wastes. The mature of the cow used to fertilize the fields were accumulated proximate to the homes.

But above all the Trentino people, the unfortunate, the small farmers principally, would poorly nourish themselves in the latter part of the 1800’s. From the information gathered in the part of the 19th century, we can assert that in 80’ and the 90’s, the amount of food was greatly reduced. The heart of their meals was polenta, few vegetables, milk and cheese. Meat was almost totally absent as well as bread while the consumption of potatoes because ever more widespread in those years. Polenta, which today is the very symbol of Trentino folklore, could have been considered a condemnation.Many times…wrote an observer…especially among the poor, and during the hot months when the work increased and the need to restore what is lost by the body increases, it is not infrequent the case of farmers forced by the economic conditions to eat polenta, the base of their food, combine their leavy vegetables, turnips 15

with the remnant of sour milk. Since even in the mountains, where it was common to rear cattle, milk, butter and the cheese needed to be sold to overcome the scarcity of food for their families. Here then is a brief overview of the “miseria” in the Trentino of the 1800’s. Insufficient nourishment hence was widespread sickness. Coupled with this, there was a way of life based on extraordinary physical labor. The farmer, who had insufficient land, was forced to work many hours a day to bring home the bare minimum to live. It equally engaged women, children and the elderly to work as hard. It was the only way to survive, a thing that needed to be done in times of grave economic and social crisis. The miseria that led to the emigration sprung from the impossibility to nourish oneself properly and the necessity to work ever more to put on the table ever less and from the poverty of their houses and villages in which they lived.

One lived badly in the Italian Tyrol in those times of crisis. Very bad! But there was yet another circumstance. From the world of Central Europe, Great Britain and especially the United States, there arrived news of a totally different way of life; news of great consumption ma also of liberties and freedoms unthinkable in the Trentino. In the Italian Tyrol, the farmer, the very majority of its population, stood on the lowest level of the social scale. He was overshadowed by the few but powerful rich, the clergy and the nobility. These were the social classes that farmer grouped into word and concept of “siori,”the rich. They improvised a song as they faced the unknown and emigration. Ai siori del Tirol/ noi ghe daren la zapa/ la zapa e anca el badìl./ I siori a menar i boi, le siore a menar el plof (aratro)/ e i contadini en Merica/ a béver el vin nof. To the rich of the Tirol, we will give them the hoe, the hoe and the shovel, the rich women will lead the oxen, and the rich women will pull the plow…while the farmers will to America to drink a new wine. How then had they arrived at this point? It was because in the second part of the 1800’s, they found themselves on the threshold of hunger. But how they arrive to this comprehensive miseria. Truly, it was because in the second part of the 1800’s, the Italian Tyrol was on the threshold of hunger. TO BE CONTINUED…

TYROLEAN IS

T --- total in honesty Y --- youthful in nature R --- regard to his fellow man O --- obedient to our laws L --- loving proud & independent E --- economy above all A --- always willing to help others N --- nobility

When you have met a Tyrolean, you have friend…

These words and image were combined into a small card by Dasalina Valentina Dalvet who lived in Middleport, PA. She was extremely proud of her Tyrolean heritage and identity.

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Stories: The Revolt of the Tesini

Our story presents us with the Tesino, Valsugana, where its people, the Tesini, lived an orderly life ruled by the Regole, the Rules. They were oppressed by the wicked Count Biagio, who lived in his well fortified fort, Castel Ivano. Count Biagio, despoiled the Tesino and oppressed its people. He is eventually brought to justice and its episode is commemorated each year in the Valsugana with a reenactment of his trial, replete with a reenactment of the trial of Count Biagio. Verena De Paoli, Filò’s storyteller presents the narrative…as if we were gathered for a real and actual Filò…shhhhhhh……..

Castel Ivano

That morning, Count Biagio got out of bed more angry than usual. He had slept poorly. On the day before, he came to know from his spies that the people of the Tesino have begun again to plot against him. His representatives and tax collectors of Cinte di Pieve were weak and hardly had the respect of the people. The hour had arrived to punish those people once and for all. Nonetheless, everyone knew what kind of a monster he was and the people of the Tesino to resist in the defense of their rights. That morning, Count Biagio rode on horseback to the outskirts of the Village of Cinte. He knew full well that the village was hostile to him. He ordered all his soldiers to surround the houses of the hamlet and to forcibly gather all the villagers. His soldiers proceeded to sack the villages, taking the very little from their homes and brought with them the hostages. With their anger and fear overcome, there arose an uncontrollable rage among the villagers.. It was necessary to seek help from the nearby villages and gather the necessary arms.

This help did come. It was not difficult to convince the Tesini to retaliate against the Count Biagio. Yet it was necessary to find the Count away from his fortified castle to capture him successfully. The Count decided on day to go hunting and as he made his ways through the woods, a woodsman took notice and informed everyCastel Ivano -- Castle of Count Biagio one. As he rode through the bottom of a narrow canyon following a narrow pathway that permitted the passage of only one of the horses. At night fall, the villagers positioned them at the ridge of a deep canyon through which the Count was to pass. As he entered the canyon, the villagers sent down an avalanche of rocks and bundles of burning branches. There was an enormous hand-to-hand struggle but the villagers prevailed. The Count Biagio was captured, tied up and brought to the village. The news of his capture reached all of the villages as well as the people of the countryside. The bells of the churches ran loudly and summoned all the heads of the households. The prisoner was brought into the village square according to their customs and rules. The Regolana, the head and chief justice of the community, pronounced his verdict: guilty on all counts.

The condemnation was confirmed and he was sentenced to death. The Count’s regal clothes were burned in front of him and to all the gathered villages and peasants there were read his crimes: He had killed many innocent people, and compelled unjustly people to hard labor and have committed many other misdeeds.. So the Tesini cut off his head. Thus, the Tesino people regained their freedom on Ash Wednesday 1365. To this day, on Ash Wednesday, this trial is reenacted and the justice of Tesini is celebrated.

Annual Re-enactment of the Trial of Count Biagio

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Alta Valsugana: An Introduction

The Valsugana Valley was and remains one of the most important valleys of the Trentino. It contains distinctive parts that includes the different lower part of the valley, Bassa Valsugana and the Val dei Mocheni. We will focus on the Alta Valsugana and return in future to its other areas. The valley was a bridge and a passage way from the Po River to Bavaria. It was the ancient home and dwelling of the most fierce of the Alpine tribes, the Celts conquered by the Roman legions. The Valley leads into the Alps foothills. It was the main north-south Roman road, Via Claudia Augusta. Historically it was one of the most important north-south European transit lanes because the route from the Veneto region to points near and beyond the famed Brenner pass is significantly shorter than proceeding Venice to Verona to Brenner. Winding along the valley, it connected the Adriatic with the Frankish kingdom's centre of Augsburg and the Holy Roman Empire to which the Trentino belonged for 800 years as the Principato of Trento.

The Valle dei Mocheni is also of historic interest as it has remained a German-speaking enclave in modern Italy to this day. This came about during the High Middle Ages while the region was ruled by the Holy Roman Empire .

Many German-speaking farmers and miners settled into the region.

The western part of the valley nearest Trento has two notable lakes, Caldonazzo e Levico. Lake Caldonazzo is the largest lake totally in the Trentino. The Lake of Levico resembles a Norwegian fjord. It is an extensive tourist area which began as a health spa during the late 19th century when the Levico Terme baths were established and became popular with the upper classes. The scenery is marked by vineyards and orchards and groves of edible horse-chestnuts. Nearby Lake Caldonazzo and the village of Caldonazzo, is a further international tourist center located just south of the Dolomites Together, Caldonazzo Lake and the Dolomites create one of the most beautiful regions of northern Italy and harbor a host of outdoor sporting activities, such as climbing, hiking, mountain biking, power boating, sailing, and windsurfing to name just a few.

Running down the length of valley is the spectacular mountain range of the Lagorai chain , one of the areas with the greatest naturalness of the whole province, including some of the wildest corners of the South-Eastern Alps .

Lagorai is a name that has its roots in the word lake, in fact there are many lakes of varying sizes present at various altitudes.

Vibrant tourist and commerce town, Pergine Valsugana is the main town in the upper part of Valsugana. Its towncentre has medieval origins, as you can see from the historic towers with adjoining castle, and experienced a further development during the Renaissance. Hovering over the city is the Castel Pergine. Its prime position makes Pergine the perfect base station for hiking tours and many sporting activities. Pergine is also the ideal place for those who love nature and culture, with an extensive range of events, including Pergine Spettacolo Aperto. In the town-centre you will be amazed by some characteristic views, like Via Maier, dotted with artworks on both noble houses and religious buildings. The surrounding hills are covered with soft fruit plantations.. There is also the Santa Orsala Cooperative which is the European leader in the cultivation and distribution of small fruit produce: strawberries, cherries, blueberries, raspberries employing over 1000 workers. Its produce is distributed throughout Europe. A noted wine of the Valsugana is La Pavana accompanied by its very own special cheese, Vezzena. There is a special “farina�..flour made with an ancient variety of corn that has been rediscovered at Caldonazzo. This farina is celebrated by two wonderful celebrations: Festa della polenta a Roncegno Terme e il Festival del Mais a Levico Terme.

Perhaps, its greatest and proudest product is Alcide De Gasperi, one of the founders of modern Europe.

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Alta Valsugana

Family Stories: Nella Litterini

I remember Mamma…Twinkly, deep crystal blue eyes, a brilliant smile, petite (5’2”) immaculate, a great dresser, an amazing homemaker (you could eat off the floor) and totally dedicated to her children - that was Nella Maffei as she was known to the Trentini of New York. She was born Cornelia Litterini in 1913 in the little village of Villa Banale overlooking the sweet, small valley of Val Giudicarie. Mamma, one of three sisters, never forgot her father’s reply when the teachers urged him to send them to Trento to further their education, “We don’t have the money and besides, they’re girls. They’ll only end up married”. She would often say: “An education is the one thing no one can take away from you.”

Nella started working at 13 washing bed linen by hand at the Terme di Comano. She later worked at some of the best hotels in the area. One Italian colonel during the war suggested that she think of going to Cinecittà - Italy’s own Hollywood. Never in her wildest dreams did she ever imagine herself living in America. Nella was 35 when she came to America as the wife of her brother-in-law and mother to two Coming to America -- 1949 teenage girls. Toni Maffei had left Stenico at 18 to work in the coal mines of Pennsylvania. In 1929, he married Margherita, the oldest Litterini sister, who died very young, leaving him two young daughters to raise. In 1948 Toni returned to Stenico with Nora and Mary and that is where “il destino” took over. Life in America began in a small 4-room apartment by Prospect Park, where Poppy worked as a building superintendent. Nella first worked in an embroidery sweatshop in NYC. The job was short-lived because the landlord expected two for the price of one! Shortly thereafter I and my brother, Walter, arrived and Mary and Nora married wonderful husbands. For the next 40 years Toni and Nella worked side by side. They spent Sundays in the park with other Trentini in their own version of Filò: The men playing cards and singing; the women chatting, watching the children and sharing news from home. The annual “Tyrolean Ball” in Ridgewood Queens was the highlight of their year.

Mamma’s letters were famous. She corresponded with Padre Bonifacio Bolognani, who wrote about the Trentino emigrant experience in America. Mamma taught herself English and kept up with current events, letting Governor Cuomo and Mayor Giuliani how proud she was of them. While her English was heavily accented, when she had something to say, the words flowed eloquently. Family always came first. She and Poppy took in my cousin, Carla Bazzoli from Val Rendena, and later her brother Riccardo lived with us until they got on their feet. Mamma was famous for her canederli` and coteghino and crauti. No visitor ever went away hungry. Mamma and Poppy returned to the Trentino as often as they could and we fell in love with the valley I call Shangri-La. Mamma went on to live another 25 years after Poppy. She died at the age of 97 in 2011.Both their spirits remain alive in all four of us in the traditions and values they imparted. Written by Tulia Maffei Lynch.

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A 21st Century Woman

Our Music: Valsugana Filò hopes to bring you our songs by providing a translation, an interpretation and hopefully a rendition through our website filo.tiroles.com. Here is a song that is directly tied with the emigration experience of the people of the Valsugana. The poor economic conditions in the Trentino at the turn of the century constrained many “Valsuganotti” to migrate to the Voralberg region in Austria itself. The younger migrants were further constrained to return to the Trentino to fulfill their military obligations. There are the themes of nostalgia, concerns for the family and possibly lost romantic love. The song is Valsugana and it is sung by the Coro S.A.T.

TRANSLATION

VALSUGANA

When we go away, away to the Valsugana To visit our mother again – to see how she is.

Quando andremo fora, fora per la Valsugana e a ritrovar la mamma…a veder come la sta

Mother is well; father is sick.

La mamma la sta bene; il papa l`e ammalato, Il mio bel parti`soldato-chissa quando tonera`

My dear departed soldier –who knows when he will return.

Tuti I me dis che lu` `l se zerca za n`altra morosa; l`è na storia dolorosa –che mi credere non so.

Everyone tells me that he searches for another beloved..

That’s a sad tale – which I don’t know whether to believe.

Ma no la credo, ma se `fussa propi propri vera…

I don’t believe it, but if it were really, really true biondo o moro ancor stassera--`n altro Fair or dark already this evening - another I will find. merlo troverò Go to filo.tiroles.com to hear a rendition from the Coro SAT. Click on Music.

Per Farsi I Canederli—The Song Recipe to Make Canederli This is a song recipe that complements the Canederli recipe on page 12. You can listen to the entire musical version by going to the website filo.tiroles.com "Per farse dei canederli Col brodo e col ragù Se ciapa del prezemolo E se lo taia su; farina, ovi e zigola, luganeghe col speck, pan vecio senza migole e ‘n toc de formai sgnèck.

Se fa balotole Col pan gratà Tre-quatro frègole De ài pestà; ‘na meza chichera de lat o vin : eco i canederli de noi trentin.

To make Canederli with broth or with sauce…

One gets some parsley and chop it up.

Flower, oil, onions, luganica sausage and speck, old bread without crumbs and a piece of cheese.

One makes round balls with bread crumbs three or four cloves of chopped garlic; half bowl of milk or wine…

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Behold canederli of our Trentino

Le Pale di San Martino

Le Pale di San Martino (Pala Group) is one of the five principal mountain ranges of the Dolomites in the Alps. The term Pala comes from the name that was used locally to designate the banks and grassy slopes at the base of the chain . By extension then went on to define the entire mountain range. The first climbers, mostly British , after the completion of their first tours and open some streets in their pleadings indicated originally the mountain range with the terms of the Dolomites Primiero or group of Pale (or even with a corruption in Italian is not very pleasant, balls). Only later, with the development of the practice of tourism mountain and the construction of driveways that favored the growth of Siror, became known worldwide in the mountaineering world as the Pale di San Martino.

Le Pale di San Martino extends over an area of 240 square kilometers (93 square miles) from southern Trentino (Natural Park of Paneveggio-Pale di San Martino) to the Province of Belluno. The group is situated in the valleys of Primiero and Bois, and the territory of Agordo. The Primiero is composed of the following municipalities: Imèr, Mezzano, Transacqua, Fiera di Primiero, Tonadico, Siròr, Canal San Bovo and Sagròn Mis. Le Pale di San Martino is characterized by a large plateau of 19 square miles) with an altitude that ranges between 8200ft and 9100ft meters above sea level. The highest peak of this group is the Vezzena 10,472ft, followed by Cimon della Pala 10,446ft – also called for its shape the “Matterhorn of the Dolomites”(Cervino delle Dolomiti). Other notable peaks in are the Cima dei Bureloni 10,269ft and Cima di Focobon 10,019ft. The smaller peaks, such as Pala di San Martino, range between 9520 and 8850 feet.

These peaks are characterized by vertiginous walls of dolomite rock. Vast forests, cultivated since the Middle Ages, characterize the lower altitudes where rich fauna live; deer are one of the most important animals. The wood from these forests is in part managed by the Magnifica Comunità of Fiemme (the local government of the valley), an institution founded in 1111 by decree of the Prince-Bishop of Trento Gebardo. But according to local legend the control of these forests originate from an accord between squirrels and lumberjacks. The spruce fir from these forests was chosen to build the most wonderful musical instruments, such as the violins, cellos, and other stringed instruments crafted by Antonio Stradivari and his family during the 17th and 18th centuries. Today, musicians still request instruments made of this particular wood from the Trentino.

One of the first settlements to favor travelers was the Hospice of Saints Martin and Julian(located in San Martino di Castrozza), but only towards the middle of 19th century did the first tourists started visiting. The first were probably the Englishmen Josiah Gilbert and George C. Churchill (1862) that described these mountains in their famous book “The Dolomite Mountains.” The book was a type of advertisement for the Dolomites and the Pale di San Martino. Some of these men started climbing the peaks like Edward R. Whitwell. In 1870, Whitwell climbed the Cimon della Pala, possibly the most beautiful peak of Pale di San Martino. The entire area rapidly became one of the most famous destinations in the Alps. Subsequently, this led to the construction of roads, hotels, and mountain huts or refuges. Some of the refuges are the rifugio Rosetta "G. Pedrotti", rifugio Velo della Madonna, rifugio Mulaz "Volpi", rifugio Pradidali, rifugio Val Canali "Treviso", and rifugio-capanna "Segantini".

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Family Stories: Antonioni

When my father, Arturo Olivo Antonioni, one of five children, was born in San Bernardo in the Valle di Rabbi in Trentino on March 23, 1908, the area was part of what was then Austria-Hungary. Although the area was Austro-Hungarian, they spoke the Tyrolean dialect of Italian. He was born in the large house in this picture. His house is no longer standing but the house on the left in the foreground is still there. Now the area is a tourist destination with the famous “Bagni di Rabbi.” When my father lived there his family suffered through WWI. I recall he would often speak of “la miseria” when he had only turnips to eat for a year, my grandmother looked in garbage cans for food and dead soldiers surrounded them San Bernardo -- Val di Rabbi on the ground. My grandfather, Giuseppe Maria Albino Antonioni, had become ill and had died earlier. My father’s two other sisters also died in childhood. (Before my grandfather married my grandmother Romana he was a dancer in Paris. This picture of him was taken in France). The area was given to Italy after WWI but my father and his family never considered themselves Italian – they were “Tirolesi” to the core.

My father (age 12), grandmother (age 40) and aunt Gemma (age 9) arrived at Ellis Island on December 20, 1920, after spending three weeks on the ship, the Rè d’Italia, having been sponsored by my grandmother’s brother, Graziano Rossi. Graziano had earlier immigrated to Vineland, NJ, where there is still a Tyrolean population. My uncle Carlo (age 13) Giuseppe Maria Albino Antonioni did not come to America because he was a deafmute and the U.S. was not accepting individuals with Mt. Carmel Church -- Hazleton, PA disabilities. He died in Trentino a year later.

My father, grandmother and aunt settled in Sheppton, PA, nine miles south of Hazleton in the Anthracite coal mining area. Hazleton had Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Church, the only church listed in the National Catholic Directory of the U.S. I recall hearing the name of Father Luchi mentioned many times. The church closed in 2009.

My father could not speak any English so he was put into the First Grade at age 12 in Sheppton, PA. The teachers hit him because he could not speak English. At age 15 he had to quit school and work in the coal mines to help support the family. Many Tyroleans who settled in that area went to work in the mines. Later he was in a mine Nonna Romana; Zia Gemma; Zio Carlo with my father (center) cave in and by the time he was rescued he said the water was up to his neck. He later lived in Brooklyn with his sister Gemma and helped build the New York subways.

During WWII he served in the U.S. Army. In 1944 he married my mother, Leona Rossi, an Abruzzese Italian from Atlas, Pa. I was born in Hazleton in 1945. We moved to the Lehigh Valley in Pa. in 1956. He worked at Bethlehem Steel for 10 years.

My father died in 1982 at the age of 74 and is buried in Pa. By working in the coal mines, helping to build New York subways and working at Bethlehem Steel, he definitely contributed to the development of the US for which I am very proud. He also instilled all of the solid Tyrolean moral and family values in me, such as a strong will in the face of reality, a love of work, a natural dignity, and above all, a strong faith in God… for which I am and always will be grateful.

Ramona Antonioni-Krausnick, Dublin, CA, Circolo Trentino di San Francisco 26

My Father, US Army

Our Food: Canederli

If there is a Blessed Trinity in the domain of Tyrolean foods, we would single out polenta, gnocchi, and…of course…Canederli. In German and in the German parts of Tyrol, they are called knodel . Canederli are a very well known and appreciated dish in the Trentino. Like many dishes in our cuisine, it uses the avanzi..the left overs…in this case, stale bread and other ingredients readily available to create the dish.. They are typically served in broth or sometimes as an entrée with sauce. The origins are a very old recipe of peasant origin. farmers, in fact, preparing this dish using their avanzi, left overs, leftover bread become stale, along with the products of their farms :eggs, sausage, bacon and cheese in fact, the backbone of food Trentina even today. Nowadays, the dumplings have evolved and in fact we can find all kinds of fillings with always different to the classic bacon or cheese, with spinach and the herbs.

PREPARATION:

Use ¾ pound of stale bread, Cut the bread into cubes, place in a bowl with three eggs beaten with a bit of pepper, salt, and nutmeg and about 1½ cups of milk. Mix it well and let it stand for 2 hours covering the bowl with a towel.

Stir occasionally turning it over and over. Add two tablespoons of chopped Italian parsley and grated cheese.

Ideally, chop a ¼ pound of speck and 2½ oz. of pancetta…hard to find in the USA. Some alternativesare smoked cured pork flank, bacon or genoa salami. Some even combine genoa salami combined with chopped ham flank.

Meanwhile, saute half of a medium onion in butter and extra virgin olive oil. Introduce the chopped meats into the sauteed onions. Cool for a ½ hour and combine with the soaked milk. Add (at least) 1 cup of flower and mix.

Wet your hands and create balls of the mix, roll in flower and place in boiling broth for about 15 minutes.

The canederli can be served in a bowl of broth or with a sauce, e.g., burro fuso with sage. Enjoy the canederli and our families who made them for us.

You can listen to Per Far i Canederli by going to the website filo.tiroles.com 27

Family Stories: The Poli’s

When my grandfather Rodolfo Poli, a member of the Tiroler Kaiser Jaegger, was released from a Russian prison at the end of World War I, the prisoners told to get home any way they could. He walked. It took him six months until he reached his tiny village in the Val di Non. Nine months later, my father Tullio Poli was born. My father was the first in our family born under Italian rule. Until 1918, this area of the Tyrol was part of Austria. Tullio was one of eight children born to Anna and Rodolfo Poli in the village of Sfruz, a tiny village best known for agriculture, primarily Village of Sfruz, Val di Non apples and potatoes. Dating from pre-Roman times, Sfruz is famous for the ancient production of “le stufe,” beautiful and decorative ceramic stoves used for heating. With only a few surnames in the village families with the same surname were identified by their dialect nicknames. Our family was “le Coz,” the stubborn, which continues today. My father left the village at age 15 to begin training as a master watchmaker by monks at a monastery in Pavia, Italy. It was common at the time for young boys to be sent away early to learn a trade, many to foreign lands, never to return home. My father’s journey to America is an interesting and sometimes humorous one, brought on by World War II, and his marriage to my mother Beatrice Rose O’Brien.

During World War II, my father was conscripted into Mussolini’s army. As a corporal, he was captured in North Africa by General Montgomery’s forces at the battle of Tobruk. He was taken to England as a prisoner of war where he remained until the end of the war in Europe. Upon Italy’s surrender, the Italian prisoners were given menial or desk jobs. During this time Italian prisoners had opportunities to mingle with the English troops. My mother was in the British Royal Navy and her job was packing parachutes. In Britain, unlike in America, everyone was expected to serve and there no exceptions for the rich. During the war, my mother became best friends with an heiress to the Royal Dutch Shell Oil fortune, Lydia Deterding, daughter of Sir Henri Deterding. Lydia arrived for active duty in her own private train car. There was Prisoner ID of Tullio Poli to be a Halloween party. A lot of the Italian prisoners were attending and it was rumored that an heiress would be there. My father decided that the best chance of spotting the heiress was to wait by the door and see who put down the most expensive purse. My mother and Lydia arrived together and Lydia put down a plain black silk purse, while my mother put down a fancy purse, borrowed from her sister Kate. So we jokingly say my father made a play for my mother, thinking she was the heiress! This is how they met, but not the reason they chose each other.

After the war, my father went back to Sfruz and he and my mother continued to write. My parents were married in the Basilica of St. Anthony in Padua and honeymooned in Venice. They lived for the next six months in Sfruz, and then moved back to Halifax, England where I and two brothers were born. Because England had been so hard hit by the war, they decided to immigrate to America for better economic and educational opportunities. My grandmother, Anna Biasi (Poli), had two brothers who left for America years earlier. Giuseppe and Angelo Biasi moved to St. Louis, Missouri. Giuseppe’s widow Rosa rented out rooms in her home, as was common for many widows at the time. We arrived in the US in January 1954 and we lived with our father’s cousins for our first few years in St. Louis. My father began work in his chosen trade and became, who many considered to be, one of the Rose Beatrice O’Brien & Tullio Poli finest watchmakers in the United States. Two more sons were added to our family and we are honored to know our heritage in the Trentino / Val di Non region and remain close to our extended family. Through continued contract and pride in his village and community, with its gentle and traditional ways, my father has passed on a love of “his mountains” to his five children, for which we are eternally grateful and blessed.

We are duty bound to continue the tradition with our children and grandchildren.

Written by Janet Poli Seavitte 28

Nos Dialet . . . Our Dialect # 3

Ding…ding…Ding…ding…Dialect school is in session…Although I can speak Italian, when I arrive in my village in the Bleggio twice a year, people regard me as some “professore” and begin to speak to me in high-faluting Italian…to which I quickly respond and retort.. Mi non capiso el ‘talian…parlame in dialet se non parto” Translated…I tell them..I cannot understand Italian…speak to me in dialect otherwise I`m out of here…Hearing and speaking the dialect is a special memory, a special gift…a special link to our roots. Hence, I will struggle again to be relevant to “teach” the dialect in the Filò. I am thinking of possibly creating small video lessons so that the readers can hear the sounds of our dialect spoken by our paesani in the Province…ding ding…Let’s get to work….

Definite Article: The dialect does not follow too many rules of Italian grammar. It has its own way that could almost be called a “rule”. In dialect, one says I gnochi (in Italian…gli gnochi) or El zifolot (Italian would use “Il”).

In Italian, it is an error to put a definite article before a proper name, we ignore that and say El Mario, la Luisa, el Cicio.

Personal Pronouns: The personal pronouns are different Mi (io), Ti (tu), Elo o Lu (egli) masculine and ELA (lei, ella) feminine, Noi (same as Italian), Voi (same as Italian) LORI (essi-masculine) or LORE (esse feminine) Verbs: Here is the past tense of the verb to be…red in dialect; blue in Italian; black in English Mi g`avevo Ti te g`avevi Lu le g`aveva Noi g`g`avevem Voi g`aveve Lori I g`g`aveva

Vocabulary:

Io avevo Tu avevi Egli aveva Noi avevamo Voi avevate Essi avevano

I had You had He had We had You had They had

Ela la g`aveva Lore le g`aveva

Mi g`avevonte?

Ti g`avevet?

Lu g`avevvelo?

Noeg`avevente?

Voi g`aveve?

Lori g`avevvei?

The following words are characteristic of the Valsugana Grumbial Pait Pesegar Peza Poiat Pomo Manaroto Matelota Mateloto Mauro Minestro Misiot Strangosar Stofec Sugar Toco Zent Zugatolo

Grembiule Tachino Far Presto Straccio Pulcino Mela Accetta Ragazza Ragazzo Maturo Mestolo Miscela Desiderare Umido Asciugare Pezzo Gente Giocatolo

Apron Turkey Hurry up Rag Chick Apple Axe Girl Boy Mature Wooden spoon Mixture Desire Humid Dry Piece People Toy

Ancient Classroom in Rango

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Sports disciplines

Universiade is a great sport and cultural event - second most important after the Olympic Games - organized by FISU. It is held every two years in different cities and it combines exciting sport competitions with cultural and educational initiatives. The 26th Winter Universiade will take place in Trentino from 11 till 21 December 2013: 11 days, during which sports, multicultural values and desire to compete with athletes coming from all over are celebrated.

In order to provide athletes and all guests with the best facilities and locations, specific venues were selected to host the various competitions: s s s s s s s s s s s s

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One of the main actors of the Winter Universiade Trentino 2013 is the University of Trento, a young and medium-sized university, that in its 50 years of history has distinguished itself for the quality of research and education, as well as for its attention towards relations with foreign countries. Its high level of internationalization is in fact one of the University’s strengths and it is one of the reasons why the University gained excellent placements over the years in national and international university rankings.

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Alpine Skiing Biathlon Cross Country Skiing Curling Figure Skating Freestyle Skiing Ice Hockey Nordic Combined Short Track Speed Skating Ski Jumping Snowboarding Speed Skating

Valsugana: The Lakes

Lakes in the Alpine areas have their very own fascination so often surrounded and framed if not defined by its mountains. The Valsugana has two spectacular gems: Lago di Caldonazzo e Lago di Levico. The Mediterranean climate of the valley and its size have helped make it a particularly popular with families. The Lago di Caldonazzo is the Trentino’s largest lake totally in the Trentino whereas the Lake of Garda is partially in the Province. At one time, it was even larger approaching the city of Pergine. It is considered one of the warmest lakes in all of Europe attracting so very many tourist.ns: These beautiful lakes are surrounded by unique mountains..the Lagorai with their natural parks, the highlands and the typical pastures for cattle grazing The Lake offers many beaches, charming villages, restaurants and entertainment.

There are a number of health spas and baths in their proximity: Terme di Levico, Roncegno. It is the center for so many sports: swimming, boating, sailing, restaurants, health spas. An extensive network of cycle paths leads through a picturesque rural landscape.

The Lago di Levico is Fjord-shaped. It lies at the foot of the renowned spa resort bearing the same name.

Levico Terme,.. On the southern end of the lake is the"Canneto di Levico" biotope, where great-crested grebes and bald-coots come to build their nests.

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Of Home and Heritage‌

All humans want to have a place where they feel at home. Home means something different to each person. But at the most obvious level, it means a secure place to live, where you feel safe and at peace, where you have familiar people, possessions and the tools of your daily life within reach. A home has a foundation, walls, and space within. Perhaps it seems superficial to think of home at the material level. But in the same way that you begin to reconstruct your genealogical history -- with the near, with what you know -- so you must begin the search for the deeper meaning of home with the obvious. Then you can move from that understanding to a deeper sense of the word.

You also have a spiritual home, an internal world which allows you to feel "at home" no matter where you are. It, too, has a foundation, a defined area, and contents both personal and shared. It contains people in the form of our family and our ancestors, possessions in the form of our culture and traditions, and tools in the form of learned experiences and natural talents. Our link to it is often unconscious, but when present, it informs our daily life. After periods of great social upheaval, migration and war, the connection to the spiritual home can be broken. We naturally begin to build a new home to try replace that which has been lost. But connection to our original heritage creates a sense of psychological stability, surety, connection, and possibility. It can take centuries to rebuild such a heritage from scratch.

It is far better to reclaim and reinvigorate that which is naturally ours. It is a very important part of genealogical research, giving life and reality to that work.

Working to reconnect with that internal, spiritual home is necessarily a positive thing. Much of the content is already there, but unconscious and unconnected. We need only seek it out and reinforce it. You may already be doing so by working on your genealogy, by reading the Filò, or by studying the language of your ancestors. Our rich cultural heritage includes many examples of great thinkers, leaders and explorers in many fields. But as important as those individuals may be, it is the culture and traditions that gave rise to them and their achievements that is the well from which we all can draw no matter how humble our origin. Surmounting enormous challenges and hardship through the centuries required creativity, intelligence, strength of body, mind, spirit and character, loyalty to spiritual values and family. These are part of your heritage as Tirolean-Americans. You should study the history, the language, the religion of your ancestors even if you don't practice or understand them in the same way. It is all a part of the contents of your spiritual home, the essential foundation of a stronger, more balanced self, family, community, nation and world!

Jim Caola will serve as our guide and mentor in learning how to research and discover family roots. His paternal grandparents immigrated to Pennsylvania from Pinzolo in 1905. In 1998 Jim began to investigate his family heritage, and within the course of the intervening years he has created a database of about 56,000 individuals, a project to index all births, marriages and deaths in Val Rendena from the early 1600's through 1923, and the creation of a photographic index of all 13 cemeteries of Val Rendena, soon to be available in a set of DVDs. He hopes that his projects will one day be duplicated throughout Trentino 33

The Wisdom Stories: I Proverbi

Bisogn far el pas secondo la gamba per no roter le braghe.

Bisogna fare il passo secondo la lunghezza della gamba per non strappare i pantaloni.

If your step matches your legs, you won’t split your trousers El Sioredio el lasa far, ma non strafar.

Dio lascia fare, ma non strafare.

God lets us do things but not overdo them.

Chi che semina spini no `l a` da ndar en giro scolz.

Chi semina spine non vada in giro scalzo.

Those who sow thorns should not walk unshod.

A chi no vol far fadighe, el terren produs ortighe.

Per chi non vuol far fatiche, il terreno produce ortiche.

For those who wont`t work the earth grows nettles.

Dal cantar se conos l`osel e l`om dal zervel.

Dal canto si conosce l`uccello e l`uomo dal cervello.

The bird you know by its song, the man by his brain.

Maria Gaetana (Maria Brunelli Tosi-1909-2011, at 100, the classic Trentina, the Matriarch of Rango of the Bleggio, Val di Giudicarie, recounting one wisdom story after another.

The Origins of Trentino Names

Andreatta -- derives from the name Andrea, Andrew, reflecting the prestige of St Andrew, apostle, suggesting “ a man of excellence”. (See following name Anderle with its similar origins). 1793, Domenico Andreatta at Bollantino; 1803, Giovanni Battista Andreatta at Bosentino.

Anderle -- originates from German who settled centuries ago in the Valsugana. In German, it is a diminutive for the name Andrew-Andrea (a valorous man, virile, robust) and equivalent in Italian to Andreotto. Originates from Pergine, Civezzano and Pine` of the Alta Valsugana. 1803, Giovanni Battista Anderlotti ad Aldeno. Variations: Anderlini, Andreotti…the “otti” is typical of the Valsugana; Enderle, the German name in use in Adige Valley and similar to Anderle, the German equivalent.

Bertoldi -- derived from the name of German origin: Bertoldi o Bertaldi originating from bertha, in the sense of “splendid, illustrious and famous” and from waldaz, powerful leader. The name is diffused throughout the Trentino; 1580, Giacomo Bertoldi in Pergine; 1785, Tomaso Bertoldi-Santa Orsola

Fortanari -- a surname referring to a place that had a spring or a fountain. Fontanari were the custodians and guardians of the spring or fountain. 1289. Vianello q. Fontana at Borgo Valsugana; 1330, Peramusio a Fontana at Povo; Derivations: Dalla Fontana, Fontan, Fontanazzi.

Zanei -- Derives from the name of Giovanni, that stems from the Hebrew Johanan with the meaning of the “gift of God”, widespread with hundreds of derivations. Valsugana: 1259: Bonora fs. Zuanini de Casteiono; Zagninus q. Zanini q. Zolli from Mori, 1285; 1381 Giovanni known as Zanus and Giovanni known Zanetus. The list is quite long. Variations: Zanetti, Zanella, Zanin. Zanotti. Special persons: Giorgio Zanei (1891-1919) born at Vigalzano of Pergine, a Trentino legionaire; Giovanni Zanei, born in Pergine in 1843, philologist and archeologist; Carlo Zanetti ( 17th Century) a Trentino printer until 1679; Giovanni Battista Zanetti, (19th Century) a member of the Diet of Innsbruck.

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Our Partners are . . .

Alberto Folgheraiter - Author, journalist and specialist in Trentino culture Azienda per il Turismo Valsugana - Patrizio Andreatta Christian Brunelli - Teacher & Technical Consultant Federazione Trentina delle Pro Loco e loro Consorzi - Director Ivo Povinelli Jim Caola - Genealogist, nutritional counselor, macrobiotic chef, Maurizio Gentilini - Record manager - National Research Council (CNR) in Rome, De Gasperi biographer Museo degli Usi e Costumi della Gente Trentina - Daniela Finardi, Communications Department Manuele Margini - Phoenix Bancaria Biblioteca della Montagna-SAT - Ricardo di Carli Museo Storico - Dr. Patrizia Marchesoni, Deputy Director & Head of Research, Archives & Collections Renzo Grosselli - L`Adige, author Trentino Marketing S.p.A - http://www.visittrentino.it/ University of Trento - Paola Fusi Head of Communications – University of Trento

Contributors

Verena Di Paoli.Writer, Researcher, Scholar Don Marcello Farina - Balbido, Bleggio Superiore, Italy Janet Polli Seavittes - St. Louis, MO Ramona Antonioni Krausnick - Dublin, CA Tulia Lynch Maffei - Charlottesville, VA

Photo Credits

Front Cover - Emil Bosco Pg. 22. Trentino Marketing Pg. 19. APT Valsugana – Angela Ventin, Ronny Kiaulehn Pg. 25. Pale di San Martino Thilo Brunner;Daniele Lira; Pio Gemiani; Flavio Faganello Silvano Angelani; Ugo Visciani Pg. 12. Images of haymaking and gardening: . Croviana. Giuseppe Šebesta - Archivio Fotografico Giuseppe Šebesta; San Francesco, val dei Mòcheni. Giuseppe Šebesta - Archivio Fotografico Giuseppe Šebesta (Museo degli Usi e Costumi della Gente Trentina) Pg. 22-23. Trentino Marketing Pg. 32. APT Valsugana – Angela Ventin, Ronny Kiaulehn

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