Giuseppe Sale di Ittiri was 24 years old in 1943. He served at the military airport of Bologna. After the armistice (September 8, 1943) he was taken prisoner by the Germans. The SS and the fascists forced him to join the Republic of Salò. Giuseppe Sale refused, knowing full well that he would be sent to forced labour. Which in fact happened.

The Sardinian was deported to Germany to the Stalag XI B "Fallingbostei" internment camp, serial number 00755. He returned to Ittiri, freed by the Americans, on 25 December 1945. Giuseppe Sale weighed 37 kilos. This alone is enough to describe the harassment and humiliation that the young man suffered in the camp during those long 2 years.

Sale resumed being a farmer, his life's profession, until his death in 2001, at the age of 82. He married and had children and grandchildren, always behaving in an exemplary manner.

In the first years of his return he did not tell anyone about his terrible experience, ashamed of what was done to him in the camp. Then he began to talk about it with his family, especially with his eldest son Giovanni, then with friends and later when the opportunity presented itself.

Now for Giuseppe Sale, 22 years after his death, the medal of honor arrives from the President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella . Donated "as moral compensation, due to Italian citizens, military and civilian, deported and interned in Nazi camps, destined for forced labor for the war economy".

The medal and the decoration will be presented to the family members by the Prefect of Sassari on the Festa della Repubblica (Friday 2 June at 10), which will be held in the beautiful internal courtyard of the Palazzo della Provincia.

In addition to Sale's family members, the mayor of Ittiri, Antonio Sau, will be present at the ceremony. «I am proud to be able to participate in such an important recognition - explains the mayor -. On behalf of the community, I once again express my sincere thanks to Giuseppe Sale, a worthy representative of those who sacrificed the best years of their lives for the freedom of future generations. In Giuseppe Sale there were the values of the Republic and the Constitution. Values that he passed on to acquaintances, friends and family. Like his grandson Giuseppe, who is named after his grandfather, of whom I am proud to have had him as majority leader during my first term as mayor ».