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Silence on Monte Sole
Military Book Club edition. A VG+ copy in a Very Good dust jacket. Former owwner has inked the date, 3-17-76 and the price of 6.95, on the inner gutter of the title page. Name and address stamp on the edges of the bototm page block along with a thin inked line. The dust jacket is clipped at the inside front flap's lower right corner. Rubs/frays to the jacket's spine tips and corners.
- GenresHistoryWorld War IIItaly
374 pages, Hardcover
First published January 2, 2002
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127 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
December 22, 2017
Silence on Monte Sole was a free Kindle book, but the formatting was absolutely terrible. I fought my way through since the unknown-to-me nonfiction account of poor, ordinary Italians slaughtered by the Germans during World War II demanded my persistence. If not for the horrific editing, this book would have received a higher rating. Olsen provides numerous details of many family structures so it is very easy to forget the exact relationship.
The first third of this lengthy book details the ordinary days of the poor citizens on the mountain. Their lives are not easy, barely subsistence level, and the war has only added to their misery. Yet these people find joy in their families and their faith. By 1944, they are exhausted by war and they hope for an Allied landing. But, in many ways, they are apolitical and their desire for peace has more to do with their basic needs then any military belief. The German presence on the mountain, along with Fascists and partisans, has caused many skirmishes and some deaths yet most people did their best stay out of the way and just survive another day.
The widespread massacre of the mountain's citizenry encompasses the middle third. Entire families, regardless of age or gender, are wiped out in firing squad executions that spread up through the mountain's small communities. The few survivors, weakened by wounds and despair, manage to live because of the weight of the bodies atop of them. Struggling out from the bloody corpses of their friends and family members, the survivors face horrific conditions with no food, medical care, shelter, or water. They are numb with loss and their future is uncertain at best.
The final third of this book covers the post-war period. Monte Sole is now a desolate area with few outsiders knowing or understanding the scope of the massacre that occurred. The few Germans held accountable for the thousands of deaths seek parole or redemption, but too few are known. The vast majority of the machine gun wielding soldiers and officers are lost to history.
I stuck with this book because it is too easy to regard historical events as a list of dates and names of battles. Too often what is lost are the human costs of war as ordinary people do inhuman acts in the name of country or religion.
The first third of this lengthy book details the ordinary days of the poor citizens on the mountain. Their lives are not easy, barely subsistence level, and the war has only added to their misery. Yet these people find joy in their families and their faith. By 1944, they are exhausted by war and they hope for an Allied landing. But, in many ways, they are apolitical and their desire for peace has more to do with their basic needs then any military belief. The German presence on the mountain, along with Fascists and partisans, has caused many skirmishes and some deaths yet most people did their best stay out of the way and just survive another day.
The widespread massacre of the mountain's citizenry encompasses the middle third. Entire families, regardless of age or gender, are wiped out in firing squad executions that spread up through the mountain's small communities. The few survivors, weakened by wounds and despair, manage to live because of the weight of the bodies atop of them. Struggling out from the bloody corpses of their friends and family members, the survivors face horrific conditions with no food, medical care, shelter, or water. They are numb with loss and their future is uncertain at best.
The final third of this book covers the post-war period. Monte Sole is now a desolate area with few outsiders knowing or understanding the scope of the massacre that occurred. The few Germans held accountable for the thousands of deaths seek parole or redemption, but too few are known. The vast majority of the machine gun wielding soldiers and officers are lost to history.
I stuck with this book because it is too easy to regard historical events as a list of dates and names of battles. Too often what is lost are the human costs of war as ordinary people do inhuman acts in the name of country or religion.
March 30, 2018
This is a beautiful book well worth the difficult decision to read about war horrors. Jack Olsen's introduction says much better than I could why to read it: "Even though it will often seem so, this is not a book about German evil and Italian innocence. This is a book about the effects of war . . . So long as there are wars, there will be massacres like Monte Sole and corruptible human beings of all races, willing to carry them out." Buried in politically motivated lies on all sides, Olsen has unearthed the lives and humanity of an all but forgotten time.
One note. I did not deduct from my scoring from this but the e-book edition I read (in Kindle Unlimited) was a disgrace. The book was poorly scanned and converted with thousands of uncorrected errors. Unless you can find a better version of the e-book, take the hard cover out of the library.
One note. I did not deduct from my scoring from this but the e-book edition I read (in Kindle Unlimited) was a disgrace. The book was poorly scanned and converted with thousands of uncorrected errors. Unless you can find a better version of the e-book, take the hard cover out of the library.
September 8, 2024
Probably one of the heaviest books I’ve ever read, but it’s an important story. The victims and survivors of Monte Sole are worth remembering.
December 18, 2016
Thought engaging reading
As a religious and age in mid-eighties, have studied and seen some of the atrocities that have occurred. It has been difficult to comprehend the depravity of some. I have toured several of the death camps of the Jewish holocaust, to understand how a culture could embrace that thinking is compounded when you include the deaths and carnage of Monte Sole in Italy. I truly would like to tour and pray there.
As a religious and age in mid-eighties, have studied and seen some of the atrocities that have occurred. It has been difficult to comprehend the depravity of some. I have toured several of the death camps of the Jewish holocaust, to understand how a culture could embrace that thinking is compounded when you include the deaths and carnage of Monte Sole in Italy. I truly would like to tour and pray there.
July 8, 2016
A horrible reminder about just how much we can all be dehumanised by war. Not all that long ago a mountain community was targeted for elimination.
This book, written less than 25 years after the events it describes, conveys a sense of horror and helplessness that I would be happy never to read about again. That said, it is important that such events are documented for general consumption and not simply archived for legal or academic purposes. The way in which the story is told is now dated and the book could do with a new edition covering the fifty or so yeas since publication, but the importance of the core content I believe warrants four stars.
This book, written less than 25 years after the events it describes, conveys a sense of horror and helplessness that I would be happy never to read about again. That said, it is important that such events are documented for general consumption and not simply archived for legal or academic purposes. The way in which the story is told is now dated and the book could do with a new edition covering the fifty or so yeas since publication, but the importance of the core content I believe warrants four stars.
March 28, 2020
This is not an enjoyable book. But it is a harrowing story that deserves to be read to see the terrible cruelty that humans can inflict on one another.
The book is in two main parts. The first, the story of a group of villages around Monte Sole, south of Bologna. The lives and struggles of the people there. The second, the systematic slaughter of those innocent villagers by German SS troops. It ends with the aftermath of the massacre, and the folorn attempts of the survivors to rebuild their lives.
There is little political commentary in the book, just a little at the end. It is the story of the people themselves, their helplessness and their betrayal.
The book is in two main parts. The first, the story of a group of villages around Monte Sole, south of Bologna. The lives and struggles of the people there. The second, the systematic slaughter of those innocent villagers by German SS troops. It ends with the aftermath of the massacre, and the folorn attempts of the survivors to rebuild their lives.
There is little political commentary in the book, just a little at the end. It is the story of the people themselves, their helplessness and their betrayal.
April 8, 2016
Heartbreaking historical tragedy
The gutwrenching true story of a Nazi atrocity in Italy in October 1944, told from the eyes of the survivors. As usual, Olsen accurately nails down what the eyewitnesses saw and felt. A very emotionally tough read, especially he last half of the book.
The gutwrenching true story of a Nazi atrocity in Italy in October 1944, told from the eyes of the survivors. As usual, Olsen accurately nails down what the eyewitnesses saw and felt. A very emotionally tough read, especially he last half of the book.
April 5, 2018
While I am sure the back story was necessary, it seemed tedious, and I never got past it.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews