Alpine soldier's last letter reaches niece 83 years after his death in Russia

Gisella, an 83-year-old woman, received a scanned copy of her uncle Matteo Gallesio's last letter on June 16. Gallesio, born in 1917, was an Italian alpine soldier who died in Russia. The letter, dated January 10, 1943, was addressed to his aunt and arrived 83 years after it was written.

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Four yellowed pages addressed to his aunt, in a fine and orderly handwriting: this is the last letter written by the alpine soldier Matteo Gallesio, born in 1917.

Gisella had never known her uncle, only hearing stories from her father. She contacted the Italian Red Cross's Restoring Family Links service in Cuneo for information. The service, along with the Nuto Revelli Foundation, helped locate the letter.

The Nuto Revelli Foundation, housed in the writer's former home, maintains an archive of documents from the Russian campaign, including letters from many alpine soldiers. Foundation founder Nuto Revelli had purchased approximately 4,000 letters from a ragman in Cuneo. These letters were part of administrative files, where families of fallen or missing soldiers could submit their relative's last letter to receive a monthly payment, an advance on war pensions. These documents were otherwise destined for destruction by the military district.

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The volunteers activated themselves, and so did the Nuto Revelli Foundation, which preserves, in what was the Cuneo writer's home, the archive with documentation of the Russian campaign and letters from many alpine soldiers from the front.

Gallesio had served on multiple fronts, including the Western, Greco-Albanian, and Italo-Yugoslav fronts, before being sent to Russia in August 1942 with the Cuneense Alpine Division. His letter, found among these preserved archives, offers a poignant connection to a past conflict and a lost relative.

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From a Cuneo ragman, Revelli had purchased about 4,000 letters from 'those present at the flags,' the administrative practice through which families of fallen and missing persons, by handing over the last letter of their relative, received a monthly check, a compensation advance on war pensions.