TIM celebrates International Holocaust Remembrance Day

Interview with Lucy Salani

01/27/2022 - 11:40 AM

Diversity of every kind is a heritage to be celebrated and valued, in companies as well as in society at large, all the more so when it comes to those which in the past have been the cause of pain, exclusion and limitations to the freedom of individuals. This is why at TIM Group we want to take part in the International Holocaust Remembrance Day celebrations by giving voice to Lucy Salani, one of the few remaining people who can testify to the horror of the death camps by recounting her own experience in Dachau, a symbolic place for Holocaust victims.

Lucy Salani, 97 years old, is not only a survivor of one of the most horrific periods in history, she is also the oldest transgender woman in Italy, and her story is told in the documentary film C'è un soffio di vita soltanto, made by Matteo Botrugno and Daniele Coluccini in the midst of the pandemic and released in cinemas on 10 January 2022. The documentary takes its name from a poem Lucy wrote when she was only 14 years old and tells the story of Italy in the last century through her eyes. She talks about the difficulties of being a gay teenager during the Fascist period, her attempts to desert the military service and her eventual deportation and terrible experience in Germany.

This interview, which will be available to everyone at TIM, is one of the initiatives and projects with which our Group celebrates all forms of diversity. Among these initiatives 4 Weeks 4 Inclusion, the marathon of inter-company events launched by TIM that in 2021 was honoured by Senator Liliana Segre who provided the voice-over and narrated the moving opening video "Nessuno Escluso”.

Read TIM's interview with Lucy Salani

TIM had the opportunity to sit down with Lucy Salani at her home on the outskirts of Bologna and ask her a few questions.

Lucy (or Luciano if you prefer), today is International Holocaust Remembrance Day. You were a victim of Nazi-fascism and deported to Dachau as a deserter. You survived. The documentary about your life is called C'è un soffio di vita soltanto (There is only a breath of life) and quotes a line from a poem you wrote when you were 14: "The yellowing leaves rest / on a world of withered things / there is only a breath of life". Despite the horror of deportation and the concentration camp, could you catch a glimpse of a 'breath of life'? What allowed you to move forward?

I decided that I would live my life making many experiences. I was in a company, and we did a lot of cabaret shows. I started to travel as much as possible in order not to think. I realised that it was important to have as many experiences as possible. The important thing was to have a roof over your head and food in your belly. The shadow of Dachau, however, has always followed me.

You often use the word 'concoction' to describe yourself. Do you want to explain what you mean? How has being 'a concoction' guided your life?

Yes, I have called myself a 'concoction' because my feminine side has prevailed within me since childhood.

My family brought me up with a male mentality and male games. But even as a child, I liked dolls.

I suffered a lot because I found myself going against my nature, which was evident from the beginning.

What have been the most difficult moments in your life?

In Dachau, when all of us prisoners had to take the bodies of people who had died during the night, load them onto a cart and take them to the crematorium where the ovens were. I saw people thrown into the oven still alive. It was a nightmare that started over every day. I still have those images in front of my eyes.

You are the longest living transgender woman in Italy. From your point of view, how have things changed for transgender people in the last 100 years?

Fortunately, there have been many steps forward. I have seen a lot of things in my life, but what I see now is really absurd. After many battles and numerous victories, I am appalled by the propaganda of certain political parties. They do everything to hold our civilisation back. I am only sorry that I will not have much time to see when our world will finally be free. Free to express your identity and to love whoever you want without feeling judged and considered a second-class citizen.

Your life has so much to tell and so much to offer the next generations. Do you want to send a message to younger people?

I advise young people never to give up and never to feel bad or wrong. Every person has to fight for their freedom and to be themselves.

Only a breath of life... but that breath of life has allowed us to preserve the treasure of Lucy Salani's words and life.