I am happy to hear that your father is doing well. An investigative journalist who has co-authored books with James Patterson, Sullivan has earned a place on the LA Times Best Book of the Year and NY Times #1 Best Sellers. Too many witnesses had died, too many records had been burned. I appreciate Mary F and other's who have clarified the misinformation around this story. Between me first learning about Pino and standing in front of him lay only ten days. All the while trying to get a commitment out of Pinos daughter for me to come and take a portrait of Pino. Introductory offer for new subscribers only. You are truly an inspiration to mankind! World War II Italy has never been more alive to me. Gregg Hurwitz, New York Times bestselling author of The Nowhere Man, An incredible story, beautifully written, and a fine and noble book. James Patterson, #1New York TimesBestselling Author, Sprawling, stirring, like the richest of stories, and played out on a canvas of heroism and tragedy, Beneath a Scarlet Sky is like one of those iconic WWII black and white photos: a face of hope and tears, the story of a small life that ended up mattering in a big way. Andrew Gross, New York Times Bestselling Author of The One Man, Beneath a Scarlet Sky has everythingheroism, courage, terror, true love, revenge, compassion in the face of the worst human evils. I would so love to meet me. I feel fortunate to have read it. An Italian WWII Story of Jewish Rescue:Pino Lella, Teenage Spy. General Leyers calls Pino "Vorarbeiter", which roughly translates to "foreman" in English. Pino Lella was never at Casa Alpina in Motta, after September 8, 1943. Mark Sullivan chronicles the life of Pino Lella, a seventeen-year-old boy who grew into a man during the last years of World War II. Pino Lella is such a man and put himself at risk time and again. Publishers were gun-shy after scandals over true books that turned out to be inventions. Quickly we started shooting since I was urged to keep it short. He too fought for the resistance while living in Bergamo. Thank you Pino Lella for sharing your story, it made me feel a little closer to the father I miss so much. God bless him and your family. I wish Pino a joyful rest of his life. Your father is my hero. Living with passion and for life. Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 26 November 2020, at 15:23. Alexander was an American spy who gathered intel from German troops occupying France. . With the publication of "Beneath a Scarlet Sky," the fictionalized story of Pino Lella, the Italian resistance will be forgotten no more. It comes out in paperback May 1. event will also feature a special recognition of Staten Island's own, Italian-born Holocaust survivor of the Finzi-Contini family, Carla Beeber. Submitting this form below will send a message to your email with a link to change your password. I sincerely hope he is doing well and is happy. Basilica of San Lorenzo Fuori le Mura that was damaged by stray Allied bombs in 1943, in Rome, in 2013. Some choose to see past the "complications" of their own self-interest and achieve the clarity of compassion for their fellow man. When his family home in Milan is destroyed by Allied bombs, Pino joins an underground railroad helping Jews escape over the Alps. That night at a dinner party, he heard the first snippets about Pino Lella. Choose wisely! I just finished reading this book. Such a compelling story. Yes, we should all put one step in front of the other and not complain. I understand youre an unsung hero, Sullivan said. From marksullivanbooks.com; Buy Now. Working undercover, Pino gains access to some of the most powerful men in . Fr die folgenden Tage wurde er Knebels persnlicher Fahrer und bersetzer. Lella secretly documented troop movements, took notes and photos and supplied the allies with the most important information via his uncle's shortwave radio. Anna accepts but doesn't show up. In our lives today, it is hard to imagine the strength and courage people were able to conjure during the war. Please know how Grateful I am for the courage and inspiration your father has graciously shared through his life's story. Copyright 2023 Suspense Inc. All rights reserved. Giuseppe Pino" Lella (* 1.Juni 1926 in Mailand) ist ein italienischer Kraftfahrer und Zeitzeuge der Endphase des Zweiten Weltkrieges.Er war der Fahrer von General Hans Leyers und gleichzeitig Spion fr die Alliierten.Im April 1945 lieferte er Leyers an die Fifth United States Army aus und wurde anschlieend bis zum Kriegsende Fahrer von Major Frank Knebel. Due to a number of exceptional circumstances, including being wounded during an Allied bombing raid, Lella was returned to Milan to recover for two weeks. For a brief moment, the war that had engulfed Europe and Nazi . Now, with the opportunity to spy for the Allies inside the German High Command, Pino endures the horrors of the war and the Nazi occupation by fighting in secret, his courage bolstered by his love for Anna and for the life he dreams they will one day share. Michael Lella, first I want to thank your father for telling his story. Tears streamed from my eyes as your father watched Anna die, and his cousin and so many others. Pino Lellas life and bravery is beyond heroism. Da Lellas Tante und Onkel Verbindungen zur Organisation Todt hatten, der Rstungs- und Bauabteilung des Dritten Reiches, schloss er sich zu seiner Sicherheit, aber gegen seine innere berzeugung, und auf Rat seiner Eltern der deutschen Armee an und wurde in das Todt Boot Camp in Modena eingezogen. These are events he had buried as deep as he could.. I hope to get back to Italy someday and maybe I will get a chance to meet him and visit some of the places noted in the story. With our tour, you will walk in the footsteps of this Italian hero during the most dramatic years of Milan, following his adventures in the . Reluctant at first, Lella agreed to be interviewed, along with corroborating witnesses. I started with my go-to-pose of a very straight-on and emotionless look. We have no idea. Pinos espionage escalates as he passes confidential information to Allied forces. The life of Pino Lella, who smuggled Jews out of Italy after joining the underground aged 17, is to be made into a film after the book was a huge success, Beneath A Scarlet Sky was initially released only for Kindle. The Machiavellian German Gen. Hans Leyers who oversaw a million slaves being worked to death on military fortifications, yet who helped save Italy from Hitlers scorched-earth plans is real. Maria Grazia 'Lella' Lombardi (March 26, 1941 - March 3, 1992) was an Italian female racing driver the second woman to start a Formula One race, after Maria Teresa de Filippis in 1958, and the last woman to do so to date. Through Montana friends, he found Lella, and phoned him in Italy. I felt it when I met him. given name. Note that the OSS was a precursor to the CIA. I keep thinking there is more to Annas story. I didn't know anything about Pino until I read the novel based on his life. If you are ever in Pinecrest, let us know! You are a hero and a human..Never die Pino Lella. Is he open to meeting people who love his story/him? Then Pino turned 18. Part of me wants to scrap Como and head to Lesa and search out Pino and give him a hug and drink a glass of Chianti with him. Your account has been registered, and you are now logged in. Michael, I just finished this book and your fathers story is incredible. Pino Lella wants nothing to do with the war or the Nazis. Lellas Geschichte ist die Basis fr Mark Sullivans Roman Unter blutrotem Himmel, der sich im Allgemeinen an die biografischen Fakten aus Pino Lellas Leben zwischen 1943 und 1945 hlt, aber auch in manchen Teilen aus Fiktion besteht. The book is based on the true story of Pino Lella and covers the years from June of 1943 to the end of the war in September of 1945. Based on the true but fictionalized story of Pino Lella, Beneath a Scarlet Sky by Mark Sullivan is set in Milan, Italy, and its countryside during the final two years of the Second World War. My friend read the book and said it was loosely written about your father's life. I too just finished reading the book. She was a Norwegian employed by the Germans. Amazon Barnes and Noble Books-A-Million BookShop Indiebound, Amazon Barnes and Noble Books-A-Million IndieBound, Mark Sullivan has done it again! In April 1945, he delivered Leyers to the Fifth United States Army and then became the driver of Major Frank . I'm his son and he is living and well in Lesa Italy. The voice and image of "Il Duce" (as Italians were . Maya. Also, how is the movie progressing? Then this is the perfect tour for you! The complete and utter lack of any corroborating information regarding the events 'witnessed' by Pino makes this historical fiction, plain and simple. If he ever did a book tour this is one I would attend. Invalid password or account does not exist. It becomes clear when you learn about his life. It was an incredible book! As a result, we are happy to announce the birth of a new Bella Milano guided walking tour: B eneath the Scarlet Sky of Milan - A day in the footsteps of Pino Lella. God bless Pino and his entire family! Mark Sullivan is the acclaimed author of eighteen novels, including the #1 New York Times bestselling Private series, which he writes with James Patterson. Franco Isman. I hope to also open their eyes to how much power and strength that children of their age group are capable of in difficult times. Maybe he can come and speak at our Holocaust Memorial in West Bloomfield, Michigan, How cool would that be. Aged only 17 he risked his life to smuggle Jews out of Mussolinis Italy, before spying on the Nazis while employed as a driver for a German general. I hope that he could be happy in his further life, even if some scars from such for us today younger Europeans (fortunately) unimaginable times certainly never stop hurting. Please tell your father what a brave soul he is, not only to find the courage to live through those years, but the years that followed, and to tell his story and bring to the forefront much of which he's likely spent his adult life trying to forget. Bozeman author Mark Sullivan had reached the lowest point in his life the night he first heard the story of a 17-year-old Italian boy in World War II, who risked his life to save Jews by leading them over the Alps and then spied on the Nazis as a powerful German generals driver. Every invading army spawns a resistance movement. or ask your favorite author a question with Ask the Author. Still, he felt it was a story that had to be told and decided to write it as a novel. An email message containing instructions on how to reset your password has been sent to the e-mail address listed on your account. Lella was a happy-go-lucky 17-year-old Italian boy whose family home in Milan was destroyed by Allied bombers. Please thank your father for sharing his story of courage. I am not going to be shut down last second. Pino was born to two loving parents who had a second son named Mimo. A true hero and an inspiration to us all! I felt it when I met him. At a deep level, this is a story of altruism, selflessness and faith, Sullivan said. Matthew Moore Pino Lella wants nothing to do with the war or the Nazis. I do remember "trick or treating" at your house one Halloween with my teammate Joan Hannah! Just finished this book, and I have rarely ever felt so attached to the people and events of a book. Mark and Julio Cernatore at the site of the chapel at Casa Alpina, Pino learns of General Leyers' fate (June-2015). I was thrilled to see Pino was alive and hope he realizes how important his story is. Iv just completed listening to the audio version with my 87 year old mother who was a Jewish war survivor in Poland from the invasion in 1939 until she graduated medical school with my father and came to New York in 1959. Giuseppe Lella; Statements. Twice, the author mentioned, Anna had Pino tie a white band around his forehead. When the book finished I restarted it and was taken right back. Registered office: 1 London Bridge Street, SE1 9GF. A book hed worked hard on hadnt done well. General Hans Leyers. Second, I am sure having a father, who has seen and experienced so much tragedy and destruction must not be easy. Mashbir headed the top secret intelligence gathering organization. Which is real? Michael, you have the most courageous dad on the earth. It was an amazing, heroic story, but Sullivan was skeptical. Knowing Pino Lella's story has changed my life and my outlook on life. It was one of those things that would keep me up at night until I got it out of my system by going and photographing it. Although Pino becomes a Nazi and helps General Leyers as his personal chauffeur, he joins the resistance movement undercover for the Allied forces. The war came to Giuseppe "Pino" Lella right as he watched Fred Astaire dance with Rita Hayworth. I laughed. What an incredible story and even more incredible that the story was untold until recently. November 2018. Thank you for sharing him with the world. When I finished the last page I was sitting at the Denver airport . The most famous one is probably the French Resistance, with at least 57 movies and numerous books about it. Giuseppe "Pino" Lella (born June 1, 1926 in Milan) is an Italian driver and contemporary witness of the final phase of the Second World War. I cannot stop thinking how he has changed my life thru the author Sullivan. Sullivan lives in Bozeman andwas astounded by Pinos story, andastonished to find that he was still alive, living in Italy after many years in the U.S. Holland has been tapped for the lead role in Pascal Pictures' adaptation of Beneath A Scarlet Sky, the novel by Mark Sullivan about real-life hero Pino Lella, a member of an underground resistance . Mark Sullivan's book allows Lella to step out of the shadows, telling his story and getting the . 7. Get full access to the Bozeman Daily Chronicle's award-winning news and sports coverage, as well as arts and entertainment, opinions and more. In my eyes you are twice a hero. When he first heard snippets of Pino Lella's story at a dinner party more than 11 years ago, Mark Sullivan was unable to shake the image of an Italian teenager leading refugees to safety across perilous mountain ridges, and he became determined to tell the tale of this anonymous, unsung hero. He spent several weeks getting Lella to talk about events he hadnt spoken of for 60 years, and visiting places where the 17-year-old had rescued Jews, smuggled a radio, fallen in love and witnessed atrocities. Based on the true story of the unlikeliest of heroes, BENEATH A SCARLET SKY follows 17-year-old Pino Lella as he helps lead Jews out of Italy along an underground railroad through the Alps and, later, when he is recruited to become a spy for the Italian Resistance. Kowerski was a Lieutenant for Poland during the war. instance of. Pino is a true hero and I would shake his hand and buy him a drink if I could! I just finished the book. The event will also feature a special recognition of Staten Island's own, Italian-born Holocaust survivor of the Finzi-Contini . Pino Lella, the subject of my novel, BENEATH A SCARLET SKY, on Lake Orta in northern Italy, with his beloved Alps behind him. Holland has been attached to play World War II Italian spy Pino Lella, who has a son in Groveland and . Schlielich baten ihn die Amerikaner, eine letzte Mission zu bernehmen und am 3. The things you shared that you felt horrible about have helped me to forgive myself for my own personal horrors. I've already written about the totally absurd description of the ski descent by Pino from Pizzo Groppera, with the violinist miraculously hanging from his . Lello joins an underground railroad helping Jews escape over the Alps, guiding hundreds of Jews to safety in a year. God used Pino to do much good in a bleak and evil time. Sullivan said and pino lella biography cousin and so many others reluctant at first, agreed! 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