In October the Germans rounded up all the men. It happened in the afternoon, in the square. A woman, Annina Cicchini, arrived in a state from Piana Saliera, near Torricella, shouting: "Get away while you can, lads! The devils are coming!".

We were in the square, outside our usual bars. Almost nobody believed us. With a couple of friends, I went up to Colle Patacchino ("We’ll wait to see what happens", they said). From the top of the hill we saw the lorry-loads of Germans arrive. We understood and fled towards Pastini. All the young men fled from the square and ran off into the countryside. The middle-aged men remained, thinking they wouldn’t be touched. Instead they were rounded up, put on the lorries and taken to Pescocostanzo where they were forced to repair the defences. From there, later on, they would be taken to Chieti where the Allies would liberate them. Back in the square, Alderico Mancini was involved in a tragicomic episode.