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Sechzehn Monate
5. März 1944: In Cremenaga, einem kleinen Dorf an der italienisch-schweizerischen Grenze, wird der Schreiner Giuseppe Vaglio von der deutschen SS verhaftet. Er hat Juden und verletzten Partisanen geholfen, den Grenzfluss Tresa zu überqueren und sich in die Schweiz zu retten. Am 6. Juli 1945, sechzehn Monate nach seiner Verhaftung, kehrt Giuseppe zurück: verwundet, abgemagert, auf einem Ohr taub. Bis an sein Lebensende schweigt Giuseppe – er ist der Großvater von Fabio Andina – über das, was er erlebt hat. Im Roman Sechzehn Monate zeichnet Andina das Bild einer Dorfgemeinschaft, die in Kriegszeiten zusammenhält, obwohl der Faschismus einzelne Dorfbewohner vergiftet. Er porträtiert Giuseppes Frau, die fromme Concetta, die versucht, ihre zwei Kinder nie spüren zu lassen, wie verzweifelt sie ist. Und er begleitet Giuseppe auf seinem Leidensweg durch drei italienische Gefängnisse, auf dem Transport nach Mauthausen und durch den Albtraum der KZ-Zwangsarbeit. Nach Kriegsende kehrt Giuseppe zu Fuß nach Cremenaga zurück. Dass er überlebt hat, verdankt er seinem Schreinerberuf und seiner Liebe zu Concetta, an die er Tag und Nacht denkt und von der er weiß, dass sie auf ihn wartet.
216 pages, Hardcover
Published April 16, 2025
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
May 27, 2026
This is a really beautiful and horrifying book.
It remined me a lot of "Wo Wir Hingehören" by Barbara Lutz, the writing styles were similar, as well has the overall feel of the book. I finished this book in a day, the short, fast-paced scenes that changed frequently made it easy to just keep reading, although a problem arose (for me) in the formatting. Often scene changes would be at page breaks, which was confusing.
What this book made very clear was the disgusting horror of what happened in the prisons and concentration camps. It was awful, sickly, not just the things that the Nazis were doing to people, but also the conditions. It was so unsanitary, and honestly, I don't think that really hit me until reading this book.
The absolute horror of war verses the ability of humans to continue with life anyways. Every character in this book was a normal human being, but the tragedies they found themselves in forced them to persevere. And they did, and lost their emotions and their ability to hope, but they survived. And lived to be able to tell this story and pass it on to their descendants. This book is a testament to the human condition and the strength of the average. It is one of the first books on World War II I've read that feels like it's characters are completely real (maybe because they literally are).
Andina wrote a book with fantastic prose that was raw and emotional. Also, this copy of the book is beautiful, the idyllic cover, the letters printed on the inside, it almost doesn't fit the topic. But it fits because for the characters, Italy, to be precise their town, as they knew it became more and more an idyllic fantasy.
100% recommend for a read that makes you think.
It remined me a lot of "Wo Wir Hingehören" by Barbara Lutz, the writing styles were similar, as well has the overall feel of the book. I finished this book in a day, the short, fast-paced scenes that changed frequently made it easy to just keep reading, although a problem arose (for me) in the formatting. Often scene changes would be at page breaks, which was confusing.
What this book made very clear was the disgusting horror of what happened in the prisons and concentration camps. It was awful, sickly, not just the things that the Nazis were doing to people, but also the conditions. It was so unsanitary, and honestly, I don't think that really hit me until reading this book.
The absolute horror of war verses the ability of humans to continue with life anyways. Every character in this book was a normal human being, but the tragedies they found themselves in forced them to persevere. And they did, and lost their emotions and their ability to hope, but they survived. And lived to be able to tell this story and pass it on to their descendants. This book is a testament to the human condition and the strength of the average. It is one of the first books on World War II I've read that feels like it's characters are completely real (maybe because they literally are).
Andina wrote a book with fantastic prose that was raw and emotional. Also, this copy of the book is beautiful, the idyllic cover, the letters printed on the inside, it almost doesn't fit the topic. But it fits because for the characters, Italy, to be precise their town, as they knew it became more and more an idyllic fantasy.
100% recommend for a read that makes you think.
April 21, 2026
muss s‘buech nochli la sacke, so so schön gschribe. es verzellt e wahri gschicht und hetmi sehr grüert.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews