A Child Al Confino: The True Story of a Jewish Boy and His Mother in Mussolini's Italy (48 page)

pardon
(French): pardon [me].

Peppino
(Italian): man's name; diminutive of Giuseppe (Giuseppino).

Perdete ogni speranza
—
O voi che entrate
. —
Queste parole di colore oscure
… (Italian): Abandon all hope oh Ye who enter. These dark words I found written at the entrance … (from
Dante's Inferno)
.

Pesach
(Hebrew): Passover.

piano secondo
(Italian): second floor.

Podestà
(Italian): Mayor, out of use.

portiere
(Italian): concierge or janitor.

povedl
(Polish?): prune preserve.

pronto
(Italian): ready.

prosche
(Polish): please.

pupo
(Italian): doll; term of endearment.

puppale
(German): little doll; term of endearment.

Quel benedetto Mussolini
! (Italian): That blessed Mussolini! Phrase used sardonically to signify the opposite of its literal meaning.

raconteuse
(French): storyteller (feminine).

rapido
(Italian): an express train, making few stops.

Roma
.
Bellissima
!
La Città Eterna
! (Italian): Rome. Very beautiful! The eternal city!

Rosh Hashanah
(Hebrew): the Jewish New Year.

s'accomodi
(Italian): make yourself comfortable.

Sai sha
(Yiddish): Be quiet.

Schatzele
(German): little treasure; term of endearment.

schnell
(German): fast.

Schnell
!
Schnell
!
Ich kann nicht auf die Juden Schweine warten
! (German): Fast, fast. I can't wait for these Jewish swine.

scopa
(Italian): old card game played with special playing cards.

Se avanzo seguitemi
,
se indietreggio uccidetemi
. (Italian): If I advance, follow me. If I retreat, kill me!

Seder
(Hebrew): traditional meal eaten the first and second night of Pesach.

Sei nela terra fredda
,
sei nella terra negra
,
ne il
sol piu ti rallegra
,
ne ti risveglia amor.
(Italian): You lie in the cold ground, you lie in the dark ground, nor does the sun cheer you nor wake you up my love.

Shana Tova
(Hebrew): Customary good wish for the Jewish New Year.

sheytl
(Yiddish): traditional hairpiece worn by orthodox woman after her head was shaven.

shmatte
(Yiddish): rag.

shofar
(Hebrew): the ram's horn blown during religious services.

shtetl
(Yiddish): small village where Jewish communities lived.

Signor maresciallo
,
sonon arrivati I nuovi internati
. (Italian): Sergeant, the new internees have arrived.

Signor podestà
(Italian): Mister mayor. Nolonger in use.

Signora
,
posso
? (Italian): May I, Madam?

Simmu arrivate ad Ospidaletto e a Maronna cce Stan rimpetto
. (Local Italian dialect) We have arrived in Ospedaletto and the Holy Mary is before us.

Simmu arrivate a Summonte e a Maronna cce Stanin fronte
. (Local Italian dialect): We have arrived in Summonte and the Holy Mary is before us.

simpatico
(Italian): charismatic, with charm.

Si na bestia
. (Local Italian dialect): You're an animal.

Sotto la caserma mi metto ad aspettar
. (Italian version): “Under the barracks I will wait for you.” The song “Lilli Marlene” was sung by the German army and spread to Italian, American, and British soldiers.

Stück gold
(German): piece of gold; term of endearment.

takke meshuge
(Yiddish): really crazy.

Tante
(German): aunt.

Tatale
(Yiddish): little daddy; term of endearment.

Tfilin
(Hebrew): phylacteries.

Totonno
(Neapolitan dialect): a contraction of Antonio.

très bien
(French): very well.

Trinacra:
a three-legged woman, representing Sicily because of its triangular shape. This was the antique name given to the island and attributed to the Greeks.

tsetses
(Hebrew): braided, fringed ritual undergarment.

Umen
(Yiddish): Amen.

un minuto
(Italian): one minute.

un momento
(Italian): one moment.

Upim
(Italian): the Italian version of the American five-and-dime store.

venite
(Italian): come in.

verstunkenes
(Yiddish and German): stinking, lousy.

vieni quí!
(Italian): come here!

vieni su
(Italian): come upstairs.

Viri Napule e po mori
(Local Italian dialect): see Naples, then die; a common Neapolitan expression.

Voulez-vous manger avec nous
? (French): Would you like to eat with us?

Wie heist dass
? (German): What do you call this?

Ya! Ich spreche Deutsch
. (German): Yes, I speak German.

Yeshiva
(Hebrew): Jewish parochial school.

Yom Kippur
(Hebrew): the Day of Atonement.

Zey zindt keyn fleysh un keyn fish
. (Yiddish): they are neither flesh nor fish.

zoccoli
(Italian): wooden shoes, similar to Dutch wooden shoes.

People Interned in Ospedaletto

Maria Carmen Dias, Giovanni Howell, Carina Pirinolo, Alfonso Carmine, Jovenne Bernard, Giorgio Cook, Angela Cook, Germaine Duwal, Rute Gillen, Margherita Laicok, Ester Chiappini, Costanza Wooder, Matilde Chale, Marcel De Rappard, Elisabette De Rappard, Ottavia Zingoni, Giulia Grazielly, Maria Penhard, Vera Hartung, Carlo Ravel, Edidia Cesan, Kristin Bjorndottia, Agnese Caine, Minnie Eldred, Francesca Peterson, Mira Gilbert, Geltrude Long, Pinklas Rozenthal, Liba Klinkowstin, Sara Kleinerman, Alice Mabel, Betty Lange, Hildegard Wolff, Mary Dowlimg, Doraty Anna Longod, Sehma Sara Lewin, Tommaso Perutz, Alessandra De Korlowska, Gabriella Perutz, Arturo Specht, Kamilla Sara Lustig Specht, Ettore Costa, Amalia Liebenthal, Michelina Krzesiukska, Elvira Noro, Paola Holloschultz, Yeanna Grillot, Anna Cavallaro, Maurizia Bedos, Carlotte Brandvei, Clara Grafegna, Rungre Ahnanda, Anna Crince, Genoveffa Robilland, Germaine Romastin, Salvatore Vellucci, Salvatore Guidone, Gusti Rosa Kampler, Agata Moglie Accolti, Giacomo Howell, Giorgio Kleinerman, Susanna Specht, Benita Perutz, Enrico Lifschust, Walter Robilland, Vittorio Romastin, David Klamper, Carlo Willy Weil, Guglielmo Weil, Carol Peirce, Aldredo Michelagnoli, Liberta' Moglie Spina, Tatiana Michelagnoli, Mirella Michelagnoli, Attone Micassi, Lucio Servadio, Hildegard Kleptar, Ottorina Crippa, Maria Crippa, Romano Karemar, Remo Garosci, Ferdinando Nikelsbacher, Cornelia Nikelsbacher, Teodoro Rena, William Fratello Pierce, Agata Howell, Pietro Padre Russo, Paula Alster, Karel Weil, Fam. Wovsi, Flora Rotschild, Isidor Gruner.