Don Giovanni Mazzoni

On the night of December 24, 1941, Christmas Eve, Don Giovanni Mazzoni, a military chaplain originally from Arezzo, celebrated his last Mass.

He was 55 years old, with three medals for Military Valor, one of which was a Gold Medal, earned during the Great War. At the outbreak of the Second World War, he volunteered for the Russian front. He was in Olyskovich, a Ukrainian region, the headquarters of the Third Bersaglieri Regiment.

Having arrived only a few days prior, he was recognized by many soldiers, and the commander, Colonel Aminto Caretto, spared him a reprimand precisely because of his reputation. In fact, breaking military rules, even before presenting himself to Caretto, he had visited the subordinate battalions, simply because they were more exposed on the front line. Caretto, also highly decorated, had not appreciated this, but respect for those blue ribbons on the priest's uniform had made him overlook it.

That evening, an 'off-duty' dinner had been prepared to commemorate Christmas, and midnight Mass was scheduled. Suddenly, however, the general alarm sounded, and Colonel Caretto joined the soldiers who were about to be deployed.

The Russians had launched a massive attack, and news from the front was becoming increasingly alarming.

In short, all available Bersaglieri at the regimental command headquarters were deployed for guard duties, various services, and communications, and all available sleds were prepared for rapid deployment.

The carefully set dining hall was, of course, forgotten. To reach the battalions engaged in combat, Don Mazzoni had brought forward midnight Mass by a few hours and celebrated it in a corridor of the school hosting the Command.

He gave a brief homily and finished hastily, ready to depart himself.

The regiment's adjutant major, Major Cini, wanted to adhere strictly to regulations and have him escorted by at least two squads of Bersaglieri, also because it was already late at night, but Don Mazzoni was resolute in wanting to leave alone.

The major, who, in the colonel's absence, assumed the commander's duties, insisted and assigned him an escort of six soldiers, whom he saw return a short time later.

Indeed, after traveling a few kilometers, Don Mazzoni had stopped the sled and addressed the escort, ordering them to return, as at that point he was the commander of that small unit and felt he had the authority to do so.

And, after thanking them, he continued swiftly into the night accompanied by his orderly Meroni and the sled driver, to be with the soldiers of the battalions in the combat zone for Christmas, perhaps unaware that he was heading towards his ultimate sacrifice.