Book Excerpts

Those who did not live in those times, and especially those who did not live in Italy in the 1920s and ‘30s, reduce history to simple terms and wonder how Mussolini was able to come into power. You had to live through it, you had to be immersed in the political and social and economic turmoil, to be placed in the labyrinth of lies and empty promises, to understand why people could be swayed by this man and by fascism. And, for those of you who are quick to judge, remember this: the United States, Great Britain, and a great number of Italian Jews all found fascism, in its early stages, to be just what Italy needed. Mussolini enjoyed early successes; under him, the government built new stadiums and huge new buildings and monuments. It hosted large sporting events, it held grand parades and celebrations and rallies that were attended by hundreds of thousands of Italians; it created a new calendar of holidays that celebrated key events in Fascist history. The economy did begin to revive, and fascism was seen by many as the catalyst. Il Duce had duped Italy, and the rest of the world, and his Black Shirts were like the nails in the coffin of people who wanted to return to life without fascism. For Mussolini, there was no escaping, no turning back. Everyone was to get on board, or be thrown overboard.

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“Papá is in jail,” Mom said. I don’t know what I had been expecting; this time of mystery had been a gray fog for me….She went on to tell us about Italy’s dictatorial regime, which brooked no dissension, and that my father was in jail because he had dissented, but I couldn’t comprehend what she was saying. It was too ludicrous. The racial laws, enacted the previous year by Benito Mussolini, Italy’s dictator, had had a negligible effect on our lives to this point. We had been forced to change schools, to go to an all-Jewish school. This didn’t bother me. The classes were taught by ousted Jewish university professors; the education was actually better than my old public school.

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My father, Max Leone Oreffice, never wasted time looking back, bemoaning injustices, second-guessing himself, or plotting revenge on those who had done him wrong. He looked forward, planning and plotting business ventures, seeing opportunities where others saw nothing, cutting boldly through life with an energy that others could get swooped up by, or left far behind. That’s why it was somewhat plausible to me that he could be gone at the drop of a hat for twelve days on a business venture. It’s also why he didn’t spend a lot of time, in later years, talking about his experience during those twelve days.

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We had made it all right. We were in America! Though we had always had plenty of money in Italy, and our lives had not been difficult until the last couple of years, I had a sense of what poor immigrants from Europe must have felt upon arriving at New York Harbor and being sheltered under the shadow of the Statue of Liberty. It was a sense of relief, of gratitude, of excitement, and most of all, of hope. We had escaped Mussolini and his Black Shirts, we were free, and we had our lives in front of us.

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I felt that Purdue was a slightly better chemical engineering school than Cornell, but what clinched my decision was that my cousins Alberta and Marina were attending Cornell, and their pitch to get me to go there was that I would be able to mix in with them and their Italian friends on campus. They figured that would reassure me, because they knew I barely spoke English. Instead, I resolved to go where I knew no one, because the best way to become Americanized and learn the language properly was to be where I couldn’t get by on my Italian. Looking back, that was a very sage decision for a 17-year-old.

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It is only in America that an immigrant could come, knowing 50 words of English, and create a new life based on opportunities unheard of in other portions of the world. It is only in America that an immigrant could take those opportunities, work hard, and rise as high as CEO of one of the top companies in the world. It is only in America that an immigrant could find the freedom to grow, and take risks, and build a life that is blessed beyond belief….And so, in solemn remembrance of all the evil he perpetrated, and also with the knowledge that my life was forever changed—for the better—by what was meant for evil, I say this: Thank you, Mr. Mussolini.