Bella Ciao

Una mattina mi son alzato,
o bella ciao, bella ciao, bella ciao ciao ciao!
Una mattina mi son alzato
e ho trovato l’invasor.

O partigiano portami via,
o bella ciao, bella ciao, bella ciao ciao ciao
o partigiano portami via
che mi sento di morir.

Addi Bä, "Der schwarze Terrorist": Addi Bâ arrived in France in 1938 with the family of a colonial tax collector and spent a year in Langeais in Indre-et-Loire before returning to Paris. He enlisted in the French army in 1939 as part of the 12th regiment of Senegalese Tirailleurs. Bâ was taken prisoner, but managed to escape and joined others in the maquis des Vosges. He was arrested on 18 November 1943 by Germans after the attack of the maquis of the Délivrance group. Bâ was tortured but did not speak. On 18 December 1943, Bâ was shot at Épinal along with the leader of the maquis, Marcel Arburger.

E se io muoio da partigiano,
o bella ciao, bella ciao, bella ciao ciao ciao,
e se io muoio da partigiano
tu mi devi seppellir.

Seppellire lassù in montagna,
o bella ciao, bella ciao, bella ciao ciao ciao,
seppellire lassù in montagna
sotto l’ombra di un bel fior.

Georges Dukson "Lion noir du XVIIe": Georges Dukson was easily the most assertive and flamboyant Black fighter in the French Resistance. Dukson was put in charge of a resistance cell in his section of northwest Paris. His aggressive leadership resulted in the disabling of several German trucks and the capture of an enemy tank whose driver he killed. With grenades, Molotov cocktails, and a pistol in hand he trailed behind a commandeered tank hunting down the enemy until he was shot in the arm. There is footage and still photos of Dukson walking several feet from Charles de Gaulle at the head of a liberation parade on the Champs-Élysées, August 26, 1944. Instead of standing with other rank and file resistance fighters lining the parade route 2nd Lt. Dukson, with his wounded arm in a sling, ignored protocol and impulsively inserted himself beside front row dignitaries. A non-commissioned officer accosted him and forced him to leave at gunpoint.

E le genti che passeranno,
o bella ciao, bella ciao, bella ciao ciao ciao,
e le genti che passeranno
mi diranno «che bel fior.»

August Agboola Browne "Ali": Whne 94% of Warzawa's population fled the Blitzkrieg, Browne volunteered to fight in the resistance. He avoided being shot distributing underground publications, handled electronic equipment, and assisted escapees from the hell of the Warsaw Ghetto.

Questo è il fiore del partigiano,
o bella ciao, bella ciao, bella ciao ciao ciao,
questo è il fiore del partigiano
morto per la libertà

Giorgio Marincola "Mercury": Weary of political discourse, Marincola veered into armed resistance, putting his medical studies on hold to assist in raids against German military forces in the vicinities of Rome and Viterbo. onfined at the Bolzano concentration camp. His enemy captors put him on live radio hoping he would recite a propaganda script critical of the resistance movement. He audaciously did just the opposite, saying: “Homeland means freedom and justice for the peoples of the world. This is why I fight the [German] oppressors.”

https://afropean.com/code-word-courage-black-underground-resistance-fighters-in-poland-italy-and-france/

Comments are disabled for this post