Today in Family History

On January 6, 1943, 80 years ago today, my nonno Biagio Marcella was declared missing in Ukraine during World War II. He was a soldier in the Italian Army. He was last known to have been alive when he was sent to the field hospital called Centro Ospedaliero di Rossosch on December 22, 1942, near Kharkiv after being shot in the left hand. This was the same date some of his cousins, also in Ukraine, fell. Shortly before my nonno was declared missing, Russians came from across the Dnipro, pushed into Ukraine, and when they came near Kharkiv, they overran the field hospital and shot anyone who tried to escape. He was born in Casebruciate, Farindola on February 3, 1922, and was just 20 years old.