I wasn't his father

By Salvatore Tribastone

"I was his only lifeline. He was my only reason for being."
Italy, 1944. In the mud of a war that is tearing the world apart, Vanni makes a choice from which there is no turning back.
Vanni is not Jewish; he is not a rebel, nor a partisan. He is a young man like many others, who could have stood by while history was being written with the blood of others. But when his eyes meet those of Ruben, a boy only six years old, everything changes.
Thus begins a desperate flight through the woods-a journey that leads from the paths of uncertainty straight into the abyss of imprisonment. Vanni chooses not to be a mere bystander: he chooses to become a shield, a pillar, and a protector for a child who has no one.
I Was Not His Father is the harrowing tale of a young man walking through the midst of hatred, guided only by love. It is the chronicle of a bond born in the deepest darkness of the Holocaust, where hunger, cold, and immense suffering fail to break the purest promise: never to let go of the hand of one in need.
Within these pages, you will find more than just a historical reconstruction; you will find the very essence of humanity laid bare. It is the story of how a bond born between strangers can transcend blood, transforming a stranger into a son in the moment of ultimate sacrifice. Amidst the grim reality of starvation and the horror of imprisonment, Vanni leads us through a powerful reflection on freedom: the true freedom that is not lost even behind barbed wire, and that manifests in the courage not to look away when the whole world seems to have lost its soul.
Vanni's story is the story of many young people of that time who chose not to turn a blind eye, not to ignore the needs of those beside them. It is a story told so that no one, today, shall forget.
"I walked in the midst of hatred, I was surrounded by death... I did it for Ruben, who was my son by then, even though I was not his father."

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B08WJY53YN
• ISBN13: 9798708577764
• Release Date: February 2021
• Publisher: Independently Published
• Length: 178 Pages
• Weight: 0.47 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 5.5" x 8.5"