He was 20 when he died in a war action
MAJANO. «Elio, setu tornat?». Albino Contardo, born in 1933, managed to pronounce a few words while in the council chamber of Majano he was given back the identification plate of his uncle, Elio Iogna, who was lost in Russia in 1943, during the retreat on the Don. Then the emotion prevailed.
The man was still a child when he saw his mother’s brother – together with the Gemona battalion of the Eighth Alpine Regiment – leave for a distant land, to fight a cruel and absurd war.
The life of Iogna, like that of many other soldiers, was interrupted at the age of only twenty. Those who saw him the last time told of his heroic end: a race, rifle in hand, against a Soviet tank.
An extreme sacrifice, made together with the comrades of the Julia division, which allowed the other battalions to retreat and rejoin the rest of the Italian forces. For this the Alpine received a war merit cross; very little consolation for the family, who could not even embrace the body, scattered on the battlefield.
After nearly 80 years, something has emerged from the ground. «The Armir return from oblivion association, of which I too am a member – says Roberto Venturini, Alpine from Rivignano-Teor -, is responsible for recovering the memory of those who fell during the Barbarossa operation. Our coordinator, Enia Accettura, is in contact with a retired Russian policeman, who has found the tag. She called me, so I started looking for relatives still alive ». Finding his grandson was not easy, but, thanks to the help of the Municipality of Majano, Venturini was able to talk to Contardo’s daughter, Chiara.
So on Tuesday 28 September a ceremony was organized for the return of the heirloom to the family, in the presence of the mayor, Raffaella Paladin, and the leader of the Alpine troops of Majano, Paolo Stefani, as well as Venturini himself. “We were really moved to remember not only the great-uncle, but also all the boys who have never returned from the front – says Chiara Contardo -. My father was very happy, he wants to hang the picture they gave him in his room ». The mayor also remembers the sacrifices of young Italians. «Thinking of a twenty year old dying for his country – he comments – makes us think and makes us think that freedom has had a high price. Too often today we forget, taken as we are by everyday life and well-being. I believe that Albino Contardo’s tears can say more than many words ».
The ceremony was a dedication to the fallen in battle and a way for the family to close a chapter, after so many years ».
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