Uncle Franz, my dear greatuncle on my mother’s side. I was very attached to him. He was my “guardian angel” when I, still a child, was taking my first steps. He was my teacher during childhood. He used to call be “Robertainer”, a nickname that I have always been fond of. I dedicated it to my own blog.
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He faithfully served in the Austrian-Hungarian Army during World War I, like all Triestines. Born in 1900, he enlisted as a volunteer at age 17, in the Austrian-Hungarian Marines.
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He used to tell me about old Imperial Austria, and about that ordered Trieste that did no longer exist, substituted by the arrogant aggressiveness of the corrupt Italian domination. But I was still to young to understand. And he passed away too soon.
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Then school came and, with it, to me came also the oblivion of our history. But the little seed, buried for a long time, did ultimately bloom and it brought back an identity that nobody can ever cancel.
Translated from blog “Ambiente e Legalità” – “Environment and Legality” by Roberto Giurastante
