He gave me an extended, solemn embody, and grew to become towards his domestic only a brief distance away. humans have been heading into the church. i may pay attention in the course of the open doorways women’s voices, announcing prayers in unison. within, white-robed monks have been of their confessionals hearing parishioners, one after one other. Church staff have been establishing the most altar for a carrier. i'm neither Catholic nor spiritual, yet i've got frequently felt at peace within Italian church buildings. So I stayed, sitting within the again row. I stayed in the course of the women’s prayers, the confessions, and the whole carrier, entire with excessive Mass. Preoccupied as i used to be with my son’s loss of life, the staggering convenience I felt in that sanctuary ready me for the remainder of the night, the twenty-hour sequence of flights starting at five A. M. tomorrow, and the weeks that undefined. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS those initiatives are by no means performed in a vacuum. many of us make thoughts, supply details, and supply aid and friendship that, after all, assist in making the full come jointly in what i'm hoping is a tidy package deal. Anna Camaiti Hostert, whilst she was once assisting me with yes features of my prior publication approximately Sicily, spoke usually approximately her cherished domestic in Tuscany’s Maremma and the way few americans spend time there. That prompted ideas concerning the components of western Tuscany which are little identified to non-Europeans. i'm thankful to her for starting a window into this glorious a part of southwest Tuscany. decades in the past, I met a tender guy traveling my native land of Salt Lake urban who grew up in Pietrasanta. Filippo Tofani and that i turned solid pals, and while I informed him of my plan for this booklet, his enthusiasm bubbled over. He grew to become an enormous supporter and helper. Filippo, who had back to town of his beginning, laid the foundation for locating my house, helped with examining, and spent a number of days displaying me round Versilia. most vital, he brought me to the tale of the village of Sant’Anna di Stazzema, which grew to become an important bankruptcy during this e-book. Filippo’s wisdom of historical past proved wonderful, by no means guidance me improper as I checked and double-checked historic evidence. He, greater than a person else, performed a key function in shaping the end result of this venture. Historian Leonard Chiarelli of collage of Utah’s Marriott Library—and my shut friend—also had a superb impression on my paintings. A tireless researcher, he stored me provided with files and different reference fabric that further immeasurably to my efforts. this is often the second one booklet of mine to which he has contributed. His friendship and help, emotional in addition to in all issues old, are important. additionally, i need to realize photographer Steven R. McCurdy who has helped me with photographs for 2 books. He is also a filmmaker, a fellow Italophile, and pal. Others additionally stepped in while requested. collage of Utah historians—Drs. John Reed and Ed J. Davies—provided perception into western Tuscany’s involvement in global struggle II. Dr. Davies helped consultant my realizing of the Nazi state of mind concerning the massacres of civilians in Italy; Dr.