Nikola Kekja, italijanski ratni izveštač iz Srbije

This essay presents a series of articles written by Italian journalist Nicola Checchia between September and December 1915, at which time he was reporting on the war in Serbia for the Rome newspaper “Il Giornaled’Italia”. These dispatches were soon compiled in the book Un regno distrutto. Lettere dalla Serbia insanguinata (A kingdom destroyed. Letters from a Serbia steeped in blood), published in 1917 while the conflict still raged. Checchia writes from Prizren describing the atmosphere of the town where the war is, at first, a mere echo, only to become, subsequently, a harsh reality, when refugees, inhabitants of bombarded Serbian towns, along with soldiers, the wounded and prisoners of war start to arrive there. As a result, life in this quiet town which had hitherto been spared the ravages of war, begins to change. The book contains interesting observations on Serbia, on the character of its people, and on the Serbian military and their bravery. Numerous quotes in Serbian accompanied by their Italian translations testify to Checchia’s keen desire to learn and understand Serbian in grateful recognition of the hospitality he found at every turn. All of these features go to make this book a valuable contribution and an authentic account of Serbia in the First World War and of how it appeared to the eyes of a foreigner, of an Italian, in particular.