Preface
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 15 August 2009
Summary
The Second World War is now becoming a dim memory for all but those who lived it. Among them, those who were not soldiers by profession, civilians caught in the maelstrom of misery, death, terror, starvation and suffering also remember it with particular clarity.
In that war, my mother, a pediatrician, joined the partisans in Yugoslavia and took me along. Although this has been more than half a century ago and I was only 8-year old I still remember the time we spent with the resistance movement with extraordinary clarity: the years immediately before and after have long receded into vague landscapes of time. Among the memories of the war is one of the nasty winter of 1943 when I had an experience that gained in significance over the years.
We had completed many hours of enforced march and had come to a road that we had had to cross: it was well guarded and it was necessary to wait for a period between the enemy patrols to get to the other side. Everyone had to remain absolutely quiet. We held that position for hours waiting for the signal to proceed. It was there that I saw a cortege, a carriage with six white horses, with attendants dressed in eighteenth century costumes and finery pass by on the protected road. It was quite beautiful and I remember how extremely clear it seemed to me. I heard the sound of the hoofs and muted voices of the attendants.
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- Information
- Reducing the Stigma of Mental IllnessA Report from a Global Association, pp. xi - xiiPublisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2005