Runner up for the October writing challenge — the collector
The Italian Women of World War II did it All: Family, Work, and Fight
As men were enlisted, women became householders, worked in factories, supported family and friends in need, and some were partisans — everything at the same time.
Although history books, after an unjust hiatus, don’t hold back on studying and presenting the role Italian women had during World War II, the general public is not as aware of the tremendous stress they had to sustain and the incredible work they accomplished.
This is probably in part because of how the media portrayed that period — focusing on battles between the Allied and the Axis, or partisans’ actions — in part because people wanted to forget the horrors of war, in part because it didn’t fit hard-to-die stereotypes, and in part, because people pivoted on the event to focus on politics. Nevertheless, women supported and held Italy together during World War II; became responsible for order and, against the regime, disorder; and were instrumental in the nation’s reconstruction after.
