FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS - PART 10
The first Bell had now been destroyed. But everyone was ready to recast the second one. There was a large audience on 12 October 1938 at Luigi Cavadini's foundry in Verona. The external bronze decoration was once again entrusted to Stefano Zuech. The applause, however, did not start, as the liquid poured into the mould created such strong pressure that the mould was torn apart. Disappointment in those present and bitterness in Don Rossaro. But the priest from Rovereto knew how to get back up after a fall, no matter how disastrous. It took almost a year before he could try again. The new casting commenced on 13 June 1939, faster than the first, lasting six minutes and thirty-five seconds. This time there was applause. A final inspection was still necessary and would take place the following August, while its creator was immersed in initiatives to celebrate the first chime.
Of course, inaugurating a Bell in memory of the fallen of the First World War while the Second was about to begin couldn't have been easy. That monument to peace weighing over 162 quintals, 3 meters high, with a diameter of another 3 meters and a six-quintal clapper was to "fight" figuratively against too many armies.
Hitler's Germany had already invaded Poland when Don Rossaro thought of involving the embassies of the various countries that had participated in the casting of the first Bell. He did so by requesting a flask with the waters of the most significant rivers of their country, which would then be used for the "baptism" of the new symbol of Peace. It may have been a naive request, but what other path could be pursued at a time when the armies had already begun to march together?
Behind that initiative there was a hope and an awareness that the priest had the courage to communicate to the foreign ambassadors with a letter in his style, most certainly rhetorical, but unquestionably clear: «Even above the turbid clouds that darken the sky the stars shine; so above and beyond the storm that devastates our horizon, the "ideal" remains sovereign. And it is precisely for this reason that I am honoured to announce to Your Excellency that the monumental Bell of the Fallen, recently recast with cannons from almost all the States of the Great War, is a marvellous success». But his gaze went even further, seeing the need to promote dialogue at the end of a war that had just begun: «We ignore, at the moment, what fate looms over Humanity, and for this reason we have, for now, suspended the program of the great celebrations of its inauguration. Monument of just peace and human brotherhood, the glorious Bell of the Fallen, which belongs to all the nations of yesterday's war, whatever the fate of the people from this dark storm, it will remain faithful to its statute without fail, and we assure you, that the venerable Bell will perpetually celebrate the glorious heroes of our great land, which you represent so nobly».
