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Oral history recording with Elena Germain. Recorded as part of the Italian Memories in Wales project (2008-10), delivered by ACLI-ENAIP and funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

00:00:01 Elena Germain was born in 1929 in Venice and decided to move to Wales because her fiancée had lost his job in the bank he worked in, and had decided to leave Italy. In 1951 Elena joined him and they married in Wales. On arriving in Wales the cold climate was something that she’ll never forget. Her husband discovered work possibilities in Wales due to posters requesting a workforce for Welsh mines. Elena describes her journey over; two days and one night on the train. She arrived in Cardiff on the 7th of December and they were married a few days later in a small church in Abertridwr.

Summary Part 2 Summary Part 2 00:00:01 The interviewer asks Elena to explain her feelings and emotions on leaving Venice. She responds that it wasn’t easy leaving her family and friends who were all against her idea of moving to a country that she knew nothing about. In fact, when she arrived the first stages were quite difficult yet after some time Elena found a job in a factory in Treforest and the couple managed to share buy a house with some Italians.

00:03:10 In the meantime their daughter Barbara was born but her husband contracted Tuberculosis and so they had to send their daughter away to live with Elena’s mother in Italy, whilst Elena found work in the hospital so she could be near her husband. Due to his illness her husband was no longer able to work in the mines so he started to take photographs in the hospital. This new profession took off; he managed to create a calendar out of the photographs he had taken, going on to open up a small photographic shop in Cardiff. By then they’re daughter was able to return and their second child was born. He went on to work freelance for the BBC and Welsh television channel. He was taken on to take photographs of Prince Charles on his visit to Cardiff.

00:14:37 They return to talking about the journey over to Wales for Elena’s husband, who would have undergone medical checks. Elena’s first impressions were of a dark depressing place; the weather, the surroundings (a mining town) and their lodgings all seemed sad to her. Her journey over on the ferry was rough and her husband met her at the train station in Wales. They were married soon after with two witnesses; their landlady and an Italian friend. She recalls that she couldn’t understand the vows yet repeated them all the same. Her wedding dress was grey with a black veil as travelling with a big white dress wasn’t practical at the time.

00:31:24 The interviewer asks Elena about the biggest difficulty she had to face when she moved to Wales. She responds that without doubt, not knowing the language was the hardest thing. When she worked in the infirmary she had difficulty understanding what the staff there were saying to her. However, when they opened the photographic shop she started talking to people and learnt English that way. She never had any problems with the Welsh people, from the start she maintained a good relationship with them. She continues to talk about her husband’s work in the mine; she says that he killed himself with the overtime that he did in order to earn more money.

Summary Part 3 00:00:01 The interviewer asks Elena the work that she did on her arrival in Wales. She was a housewife to start with then found work in a factory, after which her daughter was born and then she worked in the hospital to be near her husband. The interviewer asks how she feels when she returns to Italy and she replies that everything has changed, nothing is the same since she left Venice. Elena explains that after the death of her husband she decided to return to Italy to live as she felt lonely living in Cornwall on her own. She moved back to Venice so as to be close to her daughter.

Summary Part 4 00:00:01 The interviewer asks Elena the work that she did on her arrival in Wales. She was a housewife to start with then found work in a factory, after which her daughter was born and then she worked in the hospital to be near her husband. The interviewer asks how she feels when she returns to Italy and she replies that everything has changed, nothing is the same since she left Venice. Elena explains that after the death of her husband she decided to return to Italy to live as she felt lonely living in Cornwall on her own. She moved back to Venice so as to be close to her daughter.