Recitazione del Ruolo (Role Play)

Members are encouraged to develop an Italian persona consistent with their role as partigiani. This might include:

• Decide upon a likely Italian name, date and place of birth, address (in the Commune di Roma), and parents’ names to be inscribed on your Carta d’Identità (identity card), counterfeit fascist party membership card, and any other documentation necessary to your impression.
• Develop a Nome di Battaglia (battle name) to protect your true identity (and your fake one as well). Always use these names within the partisan cell and when discussing cell activities with others, even the OSS and SOE. Your Nome can be a first name different than your own, an animal name, or a characteristic – preferably misleading, e.g., if you walk with a limp don’t choose lo Zoppo (the lame one) as your Nome.
• Learn enough Italian so as to be able to issue and carry out likely battlefield commands, to communicate the location of other combatants (be they friend or foe), to protest your innocence during a partisan roundup, and to insult Germans after you are mortally wounded (heaven forbid!).
• Expand your repertoire with a few basic Italian hand gestures; indispensable at long distances and at those times when mere words don’t suffice! Spit at the ground whenever Mussolini, Hitler, or the OVRA (Italian Secret Police) is mentioned.
• Speak basic English with a slight Roman, Neapolitan, or Sicilian accent (don’t overdo it). Practice this newfound talent by warmly greeting any dogface private you meet in camp and asking him if he knows your cousin, uncle, niece, etc., who lives in Jersey, Queens, South Chicago, Boston, or wherever. Nevertheless, avoid becoming a total pest!
• Cultivate an appreciation for Italian opera, libations, and pre-fascist culture.
• Learn to sing a few partisan hymns (Bella, Ciao! and Fischia il Vento at a minimum) as well as the chorus of the Fascist song Giovinezza (to maintain your cover as a loyal Fascist).
• Pass the time playing Italian card games such as Scopa and Briscola and admiring any passing WACS (from afar), while sharing a flask of Grappa with your camerati.
• Share what you have with friends and friendly acquaintances, and with anyone less fortunate than you. This is the mark of a true Italian patriot.