San Pancrazio , Italy ( CNN ) -- Helen and Armando Rendón recently visited Tuscany , Italy , for the first time . Residents of northern California , the couple took part in the June 29 candlelight procession honoring massacre victims at San Pancrazio . Rendón , an author , teacher and civil rights lawyer , describes how the experience allowed him a rare glimpse inside the `` real Tuscany , '' not the storybook one depicted in the movies . A former schoolteacher , Helen was reminded of the injustices she witnessed in her native Baghdad during World War II . Here is an edited transcript of their interview . And read the full story of San Pancrazio . What was your experience participating in the San Pancrazio procession ? Armando Rendón : I realized that we were the only two people who were n't from Italy or Europe . It was like we were representing the whole rest of the world . I remember just before night fell there was a beautiful sunset . The whole sky was just ablaze . It made me wonder what it was like in 1944 on that date and whether the sky was as beautiful as that . I thought of what the people must have gone through because they thought they were out of the way . But all of a sudden they had these tanks and soldiers coming in and gathering all the men up and killing them . And it was such a contradiction between what we 're looking at and what must have happened on that date . That really stayed with me . Helen Rendón : I felt very sad to hear what was going on . I was really very , very sad . They were just a delightful group of people really . And I thought : `` Oh my gosh , that 's terrible . Why [ did ] this happen to them in 1944 ? '' I know about the history of the Nazis , but I did n't know about that town and what they did . Do you remember something from the evening that affected you ? AR : I did n't feel , or sense , any bitterness or hate . That struck me very strongly . They were just there to remember and not to hate . When everything was over , we went to this little club that sits in the back of the village . Some of the older guys were out in the front , chatting and smoking and having a beer or wine . And we went in and got something to drink . They knew that we could n't really speak Italian . We could just say hello . But there were a feeling of acceptance of `` thank you for being here . '' What was your family 's experience during WWII ? AR : I had grown up in San Antonio , Texas . My grandmother and my aunt were the ones who were raising me during the war years . My mother had gone off to Oakland , California to work . In fact , she worked in a parachute assembly plant . I lived mostly with my grandmother and she had five boys . Four of them went into the service during the war years . You know how they put stars on the windows when you had somebody in service ? She had four stars in her front window . I did n't realize all this until I was much older and then I started to ask questions . So I knew the kind of sacrifices my grandmother had gone through . I do n't think I really had experienced first-hand the kind of feeling that I felt at San Pancrazio and saw the place where the men had been killed and there were still some bullet holes in the wall . Just incredibly inhumane . That gave me a whole different sense of what the war must have been like to people who were otherwise innocent , and just waiting and hoping that it would be over and pass them by . HR : I was sitting with my parents in Baghdad , Iraq and the Muslims were coming by our house to go to the Jews to kill them . And we told them : `` No , no we do n't have them . '' We were lying so that they would leave . That 's what my father was doing . I did n't know what was going on but I was listening and they said : `` Be quiet . Get in the house . '' So they were going into the houses -- they were all empty -- and they started shooting . They stole all their clothes , all their furniture . They were very proud to be with Hitler . My dad was very worried about the beautiful neighbors , the Jewish neighbors we had . How did the experience change your opinion of Tuscany ? AR : I had a romanticized idea about Tuscany : a lot of vineyards and people drinking wine out on their patios . I think it 's still a romantic place . It 's a very human place . What I learned from San Pancrazio was that people suffered . And there was a very difficult history . To recollect the way they do it is really beautiful . It left me feeling very happy to have experienced those moments with them . We saw another side of the Italian people that not many people see . That was really a humbling experience . HR : For me , Tuscany is great . When I finished seeing that beautiful little town , it 's great . It did n't affect me negatively . I was sad for them , but it was so delightful . I was impressed by the children and the grandmothers because they were sitting and talking while the children were laughing , running and playing . They were very happy . What thought would you like to leave us with ? AR : We honor the soldiers -- the warriors -- the men and women that fought for us and died for us to keep our freedom alive . But we often forget the people , the mothers and fathers , the families that were behind them , waiting for them to come back . So we have to remember the people who sacrificed on the battlefield , but also those who sacrificed at home . And certainly , San Pancrazio gives us an example of the tremendous sacrifice of people who were otherwise innocent . It just reinforces my conviction that we can not use war as an option in working out our problems .
Children who attended San Pancrazio memorial share their memories . Laura García : To recollect the way they do it is really beautiful . Helen Rendón : The children were playing , singing and dancing . They were very happy .