The focus group - Written in the landscape

The war at high altitude required considerable logistical and material effort for the care of the wounded and sick. In the high mountains there were only first aid structures, while intermediate structures, more spacious and organized, were located in the valley floor. For the most serious cases, transfer to military hospitals in territories even farther away from the front was organized. In addition to historical photographs, there remain recollections of the health infrastructure and biographies of doctors who worked at the front or who visited it.
For many, religiosity played an important role in making the harshness of war bearable. The private one, of the individual soldiers, can be reconstructed with extreme difficulty through some objects or personal diaries. The rites of official religiosity, on the other hand, are well documented by photographs, drawings and written sources. These sources show that religiosity itself was often exploited for propaganda purposes and to support the war effort. Parish priests and chaplains, such as Feldkurat Josef Hosp on the Austrian side and Don Pietro Zangrando on the Italian side, supported with conviction the causes of their respective staffs, to the extent that they intervened at times: on the front, faith and patriotism were closely intertwined.
The general staff prepared numerous cemeteries for the fallen. At high altitude, there were emergency cemeteries, in some cases located near the front lines. Time has left barely visible traces of these places. On the Austro-Hungarian front, the cemetery of Toblingerdörfl and that of Zirbenboden are known, both well documented by photographs of the time. Between the two wars, the remains of the soldiers were exhumed and moved to the large cemeteries dedicated to the fallen, in ossuaries or in village tombs, partly for ideological and political reasons. (GF, SK)

The landscape that characterizes the area on which the research of the Written on the Landscape project focused is the Dolomite medium and high mountains, upon which military structures and infrastructures were grafted. From a naturalistic point of view, a monographic report of the Italian I Army Corps of 1917 proves to be particularly revealing, in which we read: “The region in question is part of the Dolomite Alps, of which it forms the extreme eastern edge, and, in this region, the characters of the Triassic formation are very marked, with local tectonic disturbances […]. The phenomena of erosion have acted intensely on dolomite, a constituent element of these rocks, so as to form irregular and steep slopes, furrowed by deep gullies. The typical example of the intensity of this erosion is given by the Tre Cime di Lavaredo; and where erosion has manifested itself most, shales and sandstones have been laid bare.”
The report is very detailed and also focuses on the intricate situation of water: “From the orographic complexity of the region results, by natural consequence, a corresponding hydrographic complexity, and it is noteworthy that in a relatively small area there are watercourses unfolding in different and opposite directions. Thus, while the Rio Marzon, the Rio Cengia and the Rio Giralba all have the general north-south direction, the Bacher Bach goes from south to north; and while the Boden Bach runs from west to east, the Schwarze Rienz [Rienza Nera] descends from east to west.” This is followed by climatic considerations, in which the minimum winter temperatures that have been recorded can drop to -30° C, and insights on the vegetation, ranging from coniferous forest, to mountain forest, to rhododendron.1Archivio dell’Ufficio storico dello Stato Maggiore dell’Esercito, Roma, Monografie del I Corpo d’Armata – Genio – Sistemazione difensiva, AUSSME_B1_110D_23A.
A complex natural landscape, therefore, that did not make life at high altitude easy for the hundreds of men who faced each other for twenty-nine months, summer and winter, in the Dolomites. (GF)

For the soldiers who found themselves fighting on the Three Peaks Plateau, winters were long and snowy. The snow fell from October to April and could last until late June in the shaded areas of the highest peaks. The minimum temperature often dropped to -30°C at night, hovering around 0°C during the day.
Frostbite and avalanches soon became familiar dangers. To help the soldiers survive in such conditions, both staffs provided detailed equipment and instructions. Each Italian soldier, for example, received two sets of woolen garments and three heavy blankets. The troops in the trenches also received coats and shoes lined with fur, clogs, balaclavas, leg wraps, socks, waterproof clothing and sleeping bags. To avoid frostbite, antioxidant fat was distributed to spread on the feet. To limit the damage caused by avalanches, officers from both armies had maps at their disposal showing the points most likely to cause snow loss. Despite this, the winter at high altitude resulted in hundreds of victims.
As time went on, the general staffs began to take advantage of winter conditions. The attack on Sasso di Sesto/Sextenstein on 21 April 1917 is a clear example of this. The approach of members of the Austro-Hungarian army to the Italian lines took place through a tunnel dug hundreds of meters in the snow. This tunnel made it possible to catch the sentinels by surprise and temporarily conquer the position. It also required the training of departments specialized in the use of winter equipment, including skis used for stealth and surprise attacks as well as sleds for the transport of materials. (GF)

The focus group on the First World War in Sesto/Sexten

A focus group on the topic “Culture of Remembrance of the First World War in Sesto” took place on November 20th, 2021 in Sesto/Sexten with five participants from Sesto/Sexten and San Candido/Innichen as well as with the project team and was subsequently evaluated. The discussion was moderated by Prof. Susanne Elsen (unibz).
The participants from Sesto/Sexten and San Candido/Innichen reported on their grandparents and great-grandparents during the war, both at the front and in Sesto/Sexten or in the respective emergency shelters in neighbouring communities. The two-and-a-half-hour conversation focused on the fate of the civilian population in exile.
Of particular importance was the question of how the memories of the First World War have been cultivated in the generation of grandchildren and great-granddaughters until now and how the experiences of the war and the post-war period can be conveyed to young people today. In addition, the focus group discussed the war cemeteries, feature films about the war, existing museums, the significance of the First World War for Tyrol, the mediation of the topic in the South Tyrolean schools, its importance for cultural tourism and the relationship to the neighboring communities in the Comelico.
The five participants of the focus group gave insights into how the memories of the First World War were and are cultivated in the family, at school and in public in Sesto/Sexten. They told stories and anecdotes about their grandparents and great-grandparents. Another topic was the question of coming to terms with the traumatic events of the First World War, which could only take place partially in the difficult post-war period and endured without public reflection and rituals.
The participants exhibited different perspectives on the time of the First World War within the population of Sesto/Sexten. They also discussed the changes in life after the annexation of South Tyrol to Italy. At the end of the event, different forms of historical investigation were discussed. The main focus was on the media portrayal of the First World War and the preparation of suitable didactic materials.

Regina Stauder (retired teacher): “At home there was less talk about the events of the war than about the changes in everyday life. My foster grandmother was born in 1890 and experienced it all. She was an aunt of my father and talked a lot. Before, they only cooked Tyrolean dumplings, then suddenly polenta and noodles were also available for purchase. She found this a relief when cooking. She also talked about the World War. The grandfather was very frugal and earned well as a carpenter. He then had enough money to buy a farm that had gone bankrupt. But he hesitated and the year after that he only got a cow for the same money.”1Focus Group Discussion, 20.11. 2021, Sesto/Sexten.

Christina Mair (Teacher): “The school children were very interested in how emigration came about. That was a crisis situation. The people were farmers. And already recently there were attempts to evacuate the population. Only when the first shells hit and several victims were to be mourned, were the people ready to leave the valley. The children were able to empathize well with what happened. It took the order to evacuate that made people load the bare necessities onto a cart and set off. We played that at school.”2Focus Group Discussion, 20.11. 2021, Sesto/Sexten.

Judith Villgrater (Gemeindereferentin für Kultur): “My grandfather was in the association for front-line fights (Frontkämpferverein). I remember that every event commemorating the front-line fighters was important to him. The well-maintained Waldkapelle bears witness to this time. These men have been through all sorts of things and appreciated this chapel: a wooden structure in a fairytale forest. Protection was sought there. It is not dedicated to any particular saint. In Sexten [Sesto], there were three emergency chapels, one in Moos [Moso], one in St. Veit and the Waldkapelle.”3Focus Group Discussion, 20.11. 2021, Sesto/Sexten.

Curti Covi (Museum Bunker in Dobbiaco): “There was also shelling in Innichen [San Candido], the grandmother described. The destination was the railway line. The farm where my grandmother grew up is in a blind spot, behind a hill. They fled into a tunnel where they could hide. Immediately after the war, the war cemetery was well maintained until the 1930s, and the children also helped with its care.”4Focus group discussion, 20.11. 2021, Sesto/Sexten.

Maria Theresia Mair (farmer): “Today, young people are heavily involved with the media and social networks, but there are also young people who like to go out into nature. It depends on the families what is conveyed. Questions about where do we come from, where do we want to go, are topical. There is less willingness to volunteer than there was years ago; this is a problem of the present. I can also observe this with my children. My daughter concentrates on studying, my sons who are employed in agriculture are more rooted.”5Focus Group Discussion, 20.11. 20 21, Sesto/Sexten.

The participants in the focus group were Regina Stauder, Christina Mair, Judith Villgrater, Curti Covi, Maria Theresia Mair, and Thomas Benedikter with Susanne Elsen and Waltraud Kofler Engl as moderators.

(TB)