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Oral history recording with Gennaro Autiero who was born in Naples in 1931 and moved to Wales in 1956. Recorded as part of the Italian Memories in Wales project (2008-10), delivered by ACLI-ENAIP and funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund. Part 1 of 4 (AV 11342 - AV 11345)

00.25 Gennaro was born in Naples, on the 7th September 1931. He doesn’t remember his grandparents as they died before he was born. His parents are from central Naples: his mother, Anna Mele, was born in 1900 and was a housewife. His father, Gennaro Autiero, worked on the railway for his whole life as head of engineering; he describes the work he did there. He was a good worker and family orientated. He died at around 55, his mother died a year after. He had three brothers and four sisters, only Gennaro and his younger sister are still alive. 06.41 Gennaro was about eleven when war affected Naples, due to bombing in the city he was evacuated to Avellino. When the war finished they returned to Naples to find that their house had been destroyed, so the family lived at Casa delle Ferrovie for railway workers and their families. He describes the accommodation: modern, spacious enough for the eight siblings. Gennaro talks of his family: when they were born, both sides of the family had always lived in or around Naples. His mother’s brother had his own business, as did his father’s brother. 12.28 Gennaro recalls his schooling: he attended primary to middle school, having to start again when he returned to Naples after the war. He finished at around fifteen or sixteen years of age. All the schools closed during the war so he missed out on a lot of education. The community was friendly, he vaguely remembers people from his town and the nicknames they would give them. Most of his life was spent in Wales. He he also spent around two years travelling with the army. Gennaro remembers the sirens during the war and describes time spent the shelters about one hundred metres from his house. Naples was bombed from the sea, he recalls that people were taken from Naples to concentration camps. 20.45 There were a lot of German soldiers in Naples; he describes their presence, ill treatment of the Italian civilians and clashes with Italian police. The situation settled when the American soldiers arrived: he remembers them as kind and friendly. British soldiers were also in the area. Before the war every child had to wear the fascist uniform which he describes, as well as the different stages the children would go through as young fascists: figlio della lupa (son of the wolf), ballila, giovanne italiane (young Italians) etc. Every Saturday they would dress up and carry out a gym display. Gennaro believes that Mussolini did positive and negative things: positives being education for children and support for large families. 29.40 At sixteen or seventeen he had difficulty finding work. He moved to Wales in 1956, after spending two years obligatory service in the army. When he was nearly twenty he went on National Service. He returns to talking about his evacuation during the war. The dialect was different, there was no school, and food was scarce. From 1948/9 things started to improve and American soldiers bought food to the city. He went into the army in 1950. 33.55 Gennaro describes the simple conditions in the house he was evacuated to. Food was rationed: he recalls the system and going to for food though he admits that those experiences are like smoke to him now. He has tried to forget a lot of what happened; lack of education due to the war affected the rest of his life. 38.46 Gennaro recalls his evacuation and feelings of alienation he experienced. They returned to Naples after the war around 1943. The family was considered a famiglia numerosa (large family) by the Italian government, which meant that his father didn’t go to war but continued working on the railway. He recalls complete destruction in Naples after the war. He talks about the Neapolitan dialect and songs.