Table of Contents

AUTHOR'S MESSAGE:

Love. Resilience. Legacy. These are the lessons my mother taught me in her struggles through poverty and the horrors of World War II. This family saga provides a window into a period of known history but also reveals an eye-opening account into the tragedies of genocide suffered by northern Italy at the hands of war.

Despite the darkness thrust upon my mother as a child, the ravages of war never dampened her faith-she never gave up believing the depth of her love would heal her family from layers of loss and despair. Stories like this one don't often make it to the big screen, but it's essential to preserve the legacy of the lessons gathered by the people who came before us while keeping in mind the legacy of twentieth-century wars, which still haunt us today.

I believe this book was birthed at the right time, not only for cultural reasons but also in light of our present political climate. On a global scale, people are motivated by fear. We are afraid of our countrymen, fearful of immigration and our neighbors. My mother was a young girl, coming of age during a time when the world feared its future. May her struggles propel readers into making peace with their childhood scars, rediscovering their voices, and living heroically and fearlessly. May my family's story remind people of the real threat of history repeating itself. Through our shared stories, we can author a more peaceful future by taking responsibility for each chapter and creating a world free of hate-a safe world for our children.

My hope is that Lilia will be a source of inspiration moving the younger generation to share it with their parents and grandparents. In the process, may it spark meaningful conversation about our many life experiences, and bring people together across generational and other differences to create understanding and empathy.