From Family Farm to German Cell

The Collini Case

Fabrizio Collini’s childhood losses lead from wartime violence in Italy to migration, decades of quiet work, and a final act of revenge.

increasing

Bearing strength in each event

decreasing

A Child on the Farm A Child on the Farm from "The Collini Case". A Child on the Farm A small world Nine-year-old Fabrizio Collini lives on a farm with his father and older sister.

A Child on the Farm from "The Collini Case". A Child on the Farm A small world Nine-year-old Fabrizio Collini lives on a farm with his father and older sister.

A Child on the Farm A small world Nine-year-old Fabrizio Collini lives on a farm with his father and older sister. His concerns are animals, school, and play, even as war and occupation press closer. The fragile refuge His father’s secret partisan activity makes the farm vulnerable to German forces. The child’s ordinary world is about to be broken by events he cannot understand.

The Family Destroyed The Family Destroyed from "The Collini Case". The Family Destroyed The attack After German soldiers take Nicola Collini, one returns to the farm and attacks Fabrizio’s sister.

The Family Destroyed from "The Collini Case". The Family Destroyed The attack After German soldiers take Nicola Collini, one returns to the farm and attacks Fabrizio’s sister.

The Family Destroyed The attack After German soldiers take Nicola Collini, one returns to the farm and attacks Fabrizio’s sister. A gunshot kills her, and the farm is later burned. Childhood ends Fabrizio escapes to his uncle and learns that his father has been arrested. The losses arrive together: sister, home, animals, and the safety of childhood.

An Orphan’s New Home An Orphan’s New Home from "The Collini Case". An Orphan’s New Home A substitute family Uncle Mauro takes Fabrizio into his household and tells him that he will become his son.

An Orphan’s New Home from "The Collini Case". An Orphan’s New Home A substitute family Uncle Mauro takes Fabrizio into his household and tells him that he will become his son.

An Orphan’s New Home A substitute family Uncle Mauro takes Fabrizio into his household and tells him that he will become his son. He searches for Nicola and eventually learns that the German authorities hold him. A name and a loss The boy is left with uncertain hope about his father and the knowledge that his old life is gone. The family rupture shapes the adult who will later seek Meyer.

A Quiet Working Life A Quiet Working Life from "The Collini Case". A Quiet Working Life Migration and work Collini leaves Italy for Germany, trains as a toolmaker, and spends decades at the Mercedes factory.

A Quiet Working Life from "The Collini Case". A Quiet Working Life Migration and work Collini leaves Italy for Germany, trains as a toolmaker, and spends decades at the Mercedes factory.

A Quiet Working Life Migration and work Collini leaves Italy for Germany, trains as a toolmaker, and spends decades at the Mercedes factory. His record is conscientious, and he remains outside the attention of police. A life without explanation He is unmarried and lives at one address for decades. This settled existence makes the eventual murder harder for investigators to connect to his earlier losses.

The Delayed Revenge The Delayed Revenge from "The Collini Case". The Delayed Revenge A postponed act Collini explains that his aunt could not have borne the thought of him imprisoned in Germany.

The Delayed Revenge from "The Collini Case". The Delayed Revenge A postponed act Collini explains that his aunt could not have borne the thought of him imprisoned in Germany.

The Delayed Revenge A postponed act Collini explains that his aunt could not have borne the thought of him imprisoned in Germany. He waits until she has died before killing Meyer. A life narrowed to one act The explanation reveals the long delay as an act of care as well as revenge. Collini then accepts prison without seeking to turn his story into a plea for sympathy.

14 November 1943

The day his father is taken

The days after the farm’s destruction

From the 1950s to retirement

After his aunt’s death in 2001