Miracle at St. Anna

The following day, Stamps sees a German approaching Bornacchi, led at gunpoint by four partisans. Stamps and Peppi assess one another cautiously as Train emerges with the boy, excited that the boy has begun to speak. The villagers emerge, arguing heatedly. With Renata’s aid in negotiating, the Americans and the partisans agree to speak in Ludovico’s house, the villagers cramming in to listen.

Bishop urges radioing Nokes or returning over the mountain with the prisoner, but Stamps argues they must wait for Nokes to radio them, as ordered. Stamps, angry that Bishop continues to argue, threatens to court martial him until Peppi interjects in English that the prisoner belongs to the partisans. They argue, which upsets the boy and, in turn, Train. They leave the house where the boy tells Train, via taps, that he saw the German and Rodolfo up by the church doing “a bad thing” (201).

The partisans explain that the German was part of the 16th Panzer SS Division, responsible for the massacre at the church. The German denies being part of the killings (though Stamps is unsure if this assertion is due the villagers’ obvious hunger for vengeance) and claims an old man in this area knows the identity of the person who posted the sign that led to the massacre.