I was number 21626

Written by Maggi Maristella
Illustrated by Tanzillo Emiliano

  • Middle Grade
  • Age group: 11 and up
  • Pages: 224
  • Format: 14 x 21 cm
  • RP: 14,50 euros

The true story of Venanzio Gibillini, a draft dodger who survived deportation

1943: the Armistice has just been signed and 18-year-old Venanzio does not want to be a soldier. He escapes from the barracks and hides for a few days, then obtains a visa to work in a factory, but is caught and handed over to the Germans, who send him to Germany (to Flossenburg and Dachau) on an overcrowded train with other Italian prisoners like him. Venanzio recounts his experience in the camp, the gradual loss of dignity and brutalization, the hunger, the abuse, the violence, the cold, until the “death march” and the escape of the torturers in April 1945, which leads to freedom for the (few) survivors.

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