Lelio Vittorio Valobra (1900 – 1976 in
Genoa
Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the List of cities in Italy, sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian ce ...
) was a
Jewish
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance language
*** Regional Ita ...
lawyer and the chairman of
DELASEM Delegation for the Assistance of Jewish Emigrants (Delegazione per l'Assistenza degli Emigranti Ebrei) or DELASEM, was an Italian and Jewish resistance organization that worked in Italy between 1939 and 1947. It is estimated that during World War I ...
, an exponent of the
Jewish resistance. In 1935, Valobra was a leading member of the Jewish community of Genoa, and was the keynote speaker at the new
synagogue
A synagogue, ', 'house of assembly', or ', "house of prayer"; Yiddish: ''shul'', Ladino: or ' (from synagogue); or ', "community". sometimes referred to as shul, and interchangeably used with the word temple, is a Jewish house of worshi ...
in the city, stating: "The pride of being able to raise a temple ... is nourished in us by the political climate in which we live, ... and exaltation of sacrifice, that returned pride unto Italians themselves and the internal order which is essential to becoming a nation."
[Chiara Bricarelli, Una gioventù offesa: ebrei genovesi ricordano, Editrice La Giuntina, 1995, ] In October 1938, after the passage of
racial laws
Anti-Jewish laws have been a common occurrence throughout Jewish history. Examples of such laws include special Jewish quotas, Jewish taxes and Disabilities (Jewish), Jewish "disabilities".
Some were adopted in the 1930s and 1940s in Nazi Germany ...
in Italy and the flight of Jews fleeing after the "annexation" of
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
by the
Third Reich
Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
, Valobra, on recommendation of the Union of Italian Jewish Communities, of which he was vice-president, was commissioned to organize the relief activities and coordinate the stay of Jewish refugees in Italy.
[Susan Zuccotti, Furio Colombo, ''The Italians and the Holocaust: Persecution, Rescue, and Survival''. U. of Nebraska Press, 1996, ]
DELASEM
On December 1, 1939, an organization called
DELASEM Delegation for the Assistance of Jewish Emigrants (Delegazione per l'Assistenza degli Emigranti Ebrei) or DELASEM, was an Italian and Jewish resistance organization that worked in Italy between 1939 and 1947. It is estimated that during World War I ...
(Delegation for the Assistance of Emigrants), was founded by the Union of Italian Jewish Communities, and Valobra was called to its leadership. The purpose of the association was to help expatriation and survival for Jewish refugees both interned or confined and to those who had avoided internment.
[
Valobra was the protagonist of memorable actions for saving Jewish children: in the spring of 1942 he went to ]Ljubljana
Ljubljana (also known by other historical names) is the capital and largest city of Slovenia. It is the country's cultural, educational, economic, political and administrative center.
During antiquity, a Roman city called Emona stood in the ar ...
, Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...
, where he knew there was a group of Eastern European Jewish children who had survived their parents' murder by the Nazis
Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Na ...
. Valobra picked up 42 children and managed to transport them during March–April 1943 to "Villa Emma" in Nonantola
Nonantola ( Modenese: ) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Modena in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy. It is in the Po Valley about from Modena on the road to Ferrara.
History
In ancient times the territory of Nonantola was in ...
near Modena
Modena (, , ; egl, label=Emilian language#Dialects, Modenese, Mòdna ; ett, Mutna; la, Mutina) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) on the south side of the Po Valley, in the Province of Modena in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern I ...
. At Nonantola they were hidden and protected by local people during the Nazi roundups until Valobra was able to provide for their expatriation to Switzerland
). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
.[
]
Relations with the Catholic Church
By September 8, 1943, the German occupation had set up the puppet state Italian Social Republic
The Italian Social Republic ( it, Repubblica Sociale Italiana, ; RSI), known as the National Republican State of Italy ( it, Stato Nazionale Repubblicano d'Italia, SNRI) prior to December 1943 but more popularly known as the Republic of Salò ...
and ordered the specific roundup of Jews. Valobra, helped by Raffaele Cantoni Raffaele Cantoni (1896–1971) was an anti-fascist Italian Jew who is best known for his efforts, perhaps daring, in saving Italian Jews from the Holocaust.Minerbi, Sergio. ''Raffaele Cantoni, un ebreo anticonformista''. Assisi-Roma: Carucci, 1978. ...
and Massimo Teglio Massimo Teglio (Genoa, 2 August 1900 – Genoa, 31 January 1990) was an Italian aviator responsible for DELASEM for Northern Italy from 1943 to 1945.
Biography
His father Roberto co-owned with his brothers in Genoa the firm "Fratelli Teglio", now k ...
, made contact with Cardinal Pietro Boetto
Pietro Boetto, S.J. (19 May 1871 – 31 January 1946) was an Italian Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church who served as Archbishop of Genoa from 1938 until his death, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1935. He also resisted the Italian fasc ...
of the Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
, who headed the diocese of Genoa, and who instructed his secretary Father Francesco Repetto
Monsignor Francesco Repetto (Genoa, 1914–1984) was an Italian priest and librarian. He is honored by Jews as a Righteous Among the Nations for his leading role in the clandestine DELASEM organization, which contributed to the saving of thousands ...
that the work of DELASEM would continue and would provide material assistance and shelter to persecuted Jews, both Italians and foreigners.[ In November 1943, after the news about the deportation of Jews from Genoa and the community of Montecatini, Valobra was hidden by the Bishop of ]Chiavari
Chiavari (; lij, Ciävai ) is a comune (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Genoa, in Italy. It has about 28,000 inhabitants. It is situated near the river Entella.
History
Pre-Roman and Roman Era
A pre-Roman necropolis, which dates f ...
, and had to flee to Switzerland, where he continued to manage DELASEM until the end of the war.
Acknowledgements
The Valobra name is enshrined in the " Book of the Righteous" (or Golden book) in Jerusalem
Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
.
References
* Ugo G. Pacifici Noja e Silvia Pacifici Noja, Il cacciatore di giusti: storie di non ebrei che salvarono i figli di Israele dalla Shoah, Cantalupa Torinese, Effatà, 2010,
{{DEFAULTSORT:Valobra, Lelio
Jewish resistance members during the Holocaust
People from Genoa
Italian resistance movement members
20th-century Italian Jews
1900 births
1976 deaths