Mario's Life

April Smith

My name is Mario Finzi.I was born in 1913. When I was growing up, I was the only child. My parents were an Italian Jewish couple. We lived in Bologna, Italy. They were, secondary school teachers here in Bologna. We lived in complete safety, even when Benito Mussolini had came in power in 1922. I had always loved music and making music. When i was 15, i was a musician of great talent. I had also graduated at 15, winning a state prize and beginning a musical career of successful concerts.
It was 1938, I had moved to Milan to go to school to practice law. But, after the government have issued racial issues, I couldn't keep practicing law. So, then I had moved to Paris and became a pianist, for my new career. Then in August 1939, I had went back to Italy to get my visa renewed. Then, on September 1, 1939, while I was still there, Germany had invaded Poland and then France had declared war on Germany just two days later.
In 1940, World War two have just begun. I had began work back in Bologna. I had worked at a Jewish service agency to help refugees. Life was pretty good until about July of 1943. In July, 1943, Mussolini had been overthrown with German forces and they took over Italy. After, they had been taking over Italy, they put all the Jews in a German camp, called Fossoli di carpi.
They didn't put me into one till March, 1944. They put me in an Auschwitz. Which some of the Jews were sent there and not a Fossoli di carpi. "Auschwitz" was written in chalk on one of the railway cars. After awhile of being here, I had written a message to my parents for forgiveness of what I had done. I had threw myself over the high-tension wire, that was all around the camp. I had died at the age of 31.