June 1, 1940. The German troops are routing the French in Paris. At the same time, six large Italian Navy ships leave Libya, then one of the Italian colonies. They are head toward a port in the northern Adriatic Sea. On board there are no soldiers, just children, more than 12,000 children, all between the ages of four and twelve. Their parents say goodbye to them from the quay of the port. The children are invited to spend one month of summer holidays in the seaside camps near Rimini. A few days later, on June 10th, Italy enters the war at the side of Hitler’s Germany. The ships are needed for the war, and the Mediterranean is under the control of the English Navy. The children’s return is postponed month after month. A type of organized kidnapping begins for them, which will keep them far from their families for more than seven years.