An Italian partisan in Florence, 1944
"Bella Ciao" was originally sung as "Alla mattina appena alzata" by seasonal workers of paddy fields of rice, especially in Italy's Po Valley from the late 19th century to the first half of the 20th century with different lyrics.[1] They worked at monda (weeding) the rice fields in northern Italy, to help the healthy growth of young rice plants. It took place during the flooding of the fields, from the end of April to the beginning of June every year, during which the delicate shoots needed to be protected, during the first stages of their development, from temperature differences between the day and the night. It consisted of two phases: transplanting the plants and pruning the weeds.

Monda was an extremely tiring task, carried out mostly by women known as mondinas, from the poorest social classes.[2] They would spend their workdays with their bare feet in water up to their knees, and their back bent for many hours. The atrocious working conditions, long hours and very low pay led to constant dissatisfaction and, at times, to rebellious movements and riots in the early years of the 20th century.[3] The struggles against the supervising padroni was even harder, with plenty of clandestine workers ready to compromise even further the already low wages just to get work. Besides "Bella ciao", similar songs by the mondina women included "Sciur padrun da li beli braghi bianchi [it]" and "Se otto ore vi sembran poche [it]".

Other similar versions of the antecedents of "Bella ciao" appeared over the years, indicating that "Alla mattina appena alzata" must have been composed in the latter half of the 19th century.[4] The earliest written version is dated 1906 and comes from near Vercelli, Piedmont.[5]

"Bella ciao" was revived by the anti-fascist resistance movement in Italy between 1943 and 1945, with modified lyrics.[6] The author of the lyrics is unknown.

For decades after the war, Germans — at least in West Germany — mostly ignored May 8, believing themselves to be largely innocent casualties of history. Hitler and a criminal band surrounding him were responsible, the narrative of denial went, and now Germans were forced to bear the burden of living in a divided and diminished land.

Despite Germany’s praiseworthy culture of remembrance, many Germans have a jarringly tenuous grasp of the extent of Nazi crimes or the population’s involvement. In a poll commissioned by the German weekly Die Zeit before the 75th anniversary of V-E Day, 53 percent of respondents agreed with the false statement that “it was just a few criminals who instigated the war and killed the Jews.” In another poll commissioned by a German public broadcaster, 23 percent didn’t even have a grasp of what the Holocaust was.