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Recent Posts
- Love, War and Death on Lake Como – The Tragic End of Gina Ruberti January 26, 2023
- Overnight on the Via dei Monti Lariani December 1, 2022
- The Queen of England’s Como Court October 6, 2022
- Maslianico’s Smuggler Paths August 9, 2022
- The Road to Rome (via Como) July 13, 2022
Categories
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Recent Posts
- Love, War and Death on Lake Como – The Tragic End of Gina Ruberti January 26, 2023
- Overnight on the Via dei Monti Lariani December 1, 2022
- The Queen of England’s Como Court October 6, 2022
- Maslianico’s Smuggler Paths August 9, 2022
- The Road to Rome (via Como) July 13, 2022
Categories
Category Archives: Politics
Como to Chiasso – Trying to Escape the Holocaust
Como witnessed the Holocaust – due to its border with Switzerland, Como became a place of both treachery and humanity – offering the opportunity for salvation or the road to extermination Continue reading
Como’s Changing Lakefront
Como is justifiably famous for the beauty of its natural surroundings and of its ancient walled city, for the inventiveness and quality of its silk production and for the creativity and skills of its artists and artisans throughout the centuries. The list of positives does not end there but it also ranks as the city with the longest, worst managed and corrupted civil engineering project throughout Northern Italy – but an end to the flood defence project is finally in sight. Continue reading
Posted in crime, Lake, People, Politics
Tagged Amici di Como, ANAC, Como, flood defences, floods, Lake Como, lakefront, Mario Lucini, paratie, Pietro Gilardoni, Roberto Maroni, SACAIM
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‘James Bond’ drops into Lake Como
A real ‘James Bond’ secret agent drops into Lake Como, is immediately arrested but eventually acts as the facilitator of the Italian Armistice in September 1943 – a story truly stranger than fiction Continue reading
Posted in Events, History, Lake, People, Politics, Uncategorized
Tagged Badoglio, Dick Mallaby, Eisenhower, Faggeto Lario, Lake Como, partisans, Pognana, San Donnino, secret agents, SOE, spies, Wolff
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Escape to Switzerland via Monte Bisbino
Escape to Switzerland via Monte Bisbino – the story of Anna Sacerdoti and her family and how they avoided deportation – to honour this year’s Holocaust Memorial Day. Continue reading
Posted in crime, History, People, Politics, Uncategorized
Tagged Anna Sacerdoti, Bisbino, cernobbio, Chiasso, Christian Schiefer, holocaust, Leggi Razziali, Platform 21, Shoah, smugglers
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Shadow of the Mafia over Como
Shadow of the Mafia over Como following the arrest of 34 operating a scam involving the deliberate bankruptcy of 40 cooperatives and the closure of Pane e Tulipani in Como’s old town. Continue reading
Posted in crime, People, Politics, Uncategorized
Tagged Avenue Hotel, Bruno De Benedetto, cooperatives, Lido, lomazzo, mafia, ndrangheta, organised crime, Pane e Tulipani, usury, Viale Geno, Villa Olmo
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Como’s Star-Crossed Lovers: 2 – ‘Gianna’ and ‘Neri’
Como’s Star-Crossed Lovers: 2 – ‘Gianna’ and ‘Neri’ On 6th January 1945 two lovers were arrested by fascists. 3 months later, they were murdered by their own colleagues on the orders of Communist leaders in Milan. An awful tragedy. Continue reading
Lake Como’s Star Crossed Lovers: 1) Osvaldo and Louisa
Lake Como’s Star Crossed Lovers: 1) Osvaldo and Louisa – the story of two film stars from the fascist era. He was ‘addicted to morphine and she was addicted to him’ and this led to their tragic end on April 30th 1945. Continue reading
Posted in Culture, Events, History, People, Politics, Uncategorized
Tagged Banda Koch, Cinecitta, cinema, cinevillaggio, Decima MAS, fascists, History, Junio Valerio Borghese, Lano D'Intelvi, Louisa Ferida, Marozin, Osvaldo Valenti, partisans, Pietro Koch, RSI, Smuggling, telefoni bianchi, Vega, Villa Fossati, Villa Triste
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Como’s Lake Montorfano: Commandos, Contraband and the CIA
Como’s Lake Montorfano: Commandos, Contraband and the CIA. How a commando group trained on Lake Montorfano became the model after April 25th 1945 for post war covert anti-communist action across Western Europe. Continue reading
Posted in crime, History, People, Politics, Uncategorized
Tagged Allen Dulles, Angleton, CIA, Decima MAS, Gladio, Liberation Day, Mario Rossi, Montorfano, nazifascism, OSS, P2, partisans, Piazza Fontana, Politics, Porlezza, Prince Julio Valerio Borghese, RSI, spallone, spies, Ugo Ricci, Vega
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Como Remembers the Holocaust
Como Remembers the Holocaust. For this Memorial Day I wish to recall the exploits of Giorgio Perlasca, born in Como on January 31st 1910, who has been attributed with saving the lives of over 5000 Jews living in Hungary. Continue reading
Posted in crime, Events, History, People, Politics, Uncategorized
Tagged anti-semitism, Don Banfi, fascism, holocaust, Italian Jews, Perlasca, Politics, Racial Laws, Shoah
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