My Zia Sylvia, she was my mum’s elder sister. She was 4 years old when she passed in 1944, and my Mum was born the year after.
My Nonno ran a business in Lower Hutt and was arrested and sent to Somes/Matiu Island, where he stayed for about 6 months before some German prisoners tried to escape, which ended his time there, and he was sent to plant trees in Wainui. He had a house in Bridge Street in Lower Hutt, but his wife was forced to live in Karori while he was a POW. Which is why Zia Sylvia was buried in Karori rather than the Hutt, so she came with 2 daughters and left with 1.
My grandparents were immigrants from Stromboli, and my Nonno became a NZ citizen as soon as he could, but that didn’t stop him from being arrested in WWII. They had already lost a child in Stromboli, and then Sylvia.
By Giovanni Mollo
Plot: *ROM CATH/Z/459
Giovanni plans to take his children to see her sometime later this year. Thanks for sharing the story, Giovanni.
