May 1945 Summary

Sant'Andrea Bluffs

After a bloody battle on the hill beneath them, Renzo goes down to meet a lone officer of the Republican troops who has climbed up to assess the dead. They shake hands; when Renzo returns in tears, he informs the partisans the Germans have surrendered, the war is over and the dead Republicans below them are countrymen who should be honored.

Porto Sant'Andrea

Delirious and singing, partisans return to the town, exhausted from burying their dead enemies. In the midst of the celebration, a British officer summons Simon and tells him there were orders for him not to allow the partisans into Sant'Andrea until the Allied forces arrived. Simon tells him he tried to stem the tide, but it did not good.

Pensione Usodimare, Porto Sant'Andrea

Antonia Usodimare has lived through the war by housing Germans and Fascists. Renzo, who she...