22 JUNE 1944: THE CHILDREN'S MARCH

It all begins in one place, a large villa that stands alone among the Crete and Sienese woods and which since 1924 has become the residence of the Origo couple. The place is barren, the countryside at times inhospitable and desert-like is compared to the emptiness of a lunar landscape, in which the arid monotony of the terrain is interrupted by lines similar to elephant backs. However, in this environment of severe deprivation, the Foce becomes a microcosm in which a model of rational agriculture is experimented, and solidarity, hospitality and the exercise of humanity are practiced daily. Especially during the most acute phase of the Second World War, the home of Iris and Antonio Origo became a refuge for all the defenseless: fugitives from oncentration camps, Jews, young people called up to arms who refused to serve the Germans, wounded partisans, children displaced in following the bombings. Precisely the latter, on 22 June 1944, experienced an episode that went down in history as the children's march. A real exodus that from Foce, through fields and little exposed paths, will reach Montepulciano.