Leopoldo Faretra (

Grottaminarda Grottaminarda (Irpino: ) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Avellino (Campania), situated northeast of Naples, in the southwest of Italy. Grottaminarda is part of Roman Catholic Diocese of Ariano Irpino-Lacedonia and its territory bor ...

, 1 February 1908 – Passo Eclano, 25 May 2001) was an Italian physician. He devoted his life to those in need of care and was strongly opposed to his political ideals. From 2 November 1943 to 13 April 1945 directed the Infirmary in Italian concentration camp in Hemer, in the northwest of Germany, in which he worked a resistance unarmed, allowing them to escape the German heavy work in the hundreds of Italians. On 3 September 1944, Faretra was reported to the Gestapo for propagating anti-German propaganda and to have caused the failure of the request for voluntary cooperation by the Germans advanced to the Italian military infirmary run by him. After his death, 16 March 2010 he was awarded the Medal of Honor due to him as an Italian citizen deported to a concentration camp Nazi.

Life

Leopoldo Faretra was born in

. He devoted his life to poor and needy people and he fought against

infant mortality Infant mortality is the death of young children under the age of 1. This death toll is measured by the infant mortality rate (IMR), which is the probability of deaths of children under one year of age per 1000 live births. The under-five morta ...

. From 2 November 1943 to 13 April 1945, he directed Italian infirmary in the

concentration camp Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simply ...

Hemer Hemer is a town in the Märkischer Kreis district, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Geography Hemer is located at the north end of the Sauerland near the Ruhr (river), Ruhr river. The highest elevation, at 546 metres (1,791 ft), is in th ...

, in the north-west of Germany. Here, he prescribed a lot of false medical certificates to deported people in order to get them away from death caused by work in heavy industry. He worked as health officer in

Rocchetta Sant'Antonio Rocchetta Sant'Antonio ( Foggiano: or ) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Foggia in the Apulia region of southeast Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern ...

. Then he moved to

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

cause of his socialist ideals and because there were needed doctors. There, doctor Faretra was the only one who gave immediately help to survivors of an air accident through impassable paths risking his life. In 1957 he specialized in

gynaecology Gynaecology or gynecology (see spelling differences) is the area of medicine that involves the treatment of women's diseases, especially those of the reproductive organs. It is often paired with the field of obstetrics, forming the combined are ...

and he managed to save a lot of unborn children and women in childbed through surgical operations. On 16 May 2010 it was award him a medal of honour because he was an Italian deported in a Nazi lager.Luigi Melucci, "Leopoldo Faretra, storia, memoria, etica e resistenza non-armata di un irpino", Versi Editori, Grottaminarda 2012, 139 pages, p. 91

Bibliography

Notes

External links

Some places and memories related to Leopoldo Faretra
{{DEFAULTSORT:Faretra, Leopoldo Italian gynaecologists 1908 births 2001 deaths