Raffaele Cantoni (1896–1971) was an anti-
fascist
Fascism is a far-right, Authoritarianism, authoritarian, ultranationalism, ultra-nationalist political Political ideology, ideology and Political movement, movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and pol ...
Italian Jew who is best known for his efforts, perhaps daring, in saving Italian
Jews
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 ...
from the
Holocaust
The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; a ...
.
[Minerbi, Sergio. ''Raffaele Cantoni, un ebreo anticonformista''. Assisi-Roma: Carucci, 1978.] He was a
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 ...
executive before and during the German occupation of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. He was also President of the pro-
Zionist
Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת ''Tsiyyonut'' after ''Zion'') is a nationalist movement that espouses the establishment of, and support for a homeland for the Jewish people centered in the area roughly corresponding to what is known in Je ...
UCEI (Unione delle Comunità Ebraiche Italiane) or
Union of Italian Jewish Communities
The Union of Italian Jewish Communities (Italian: ''Unione delle comunità ebraiche italiane'', UCEI) is a national association that represents over twenty Jewish community associations in Italy. It was founded in 1911 as the ''Comitato delle un ...
.
[Zuccotti, Susan & Furio Colombo. ''The Italians and The Holocaust: Persecutiuon, Rescue, and Survival''. Bison Books, 1996. .] He was a
Mason
Mason may refer to:
Occupations
* Mason, brick mason, or bricklayer, a craftsman who lays bricks to construct brickwork, or who lays any combination of stones, bricks, cinder blocks, or similar pieces
* Stone mason, a craftsman in the stone-cut ...
and a socialist.
Background
Cantoni was born in
Venice
Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...
and studied economics, becoming a counselor to the
Banca Nazionale del Lavoro
Banca Nazionale del Lavoro S.p.A. (BNL) is an Italian bank headquartered in Rome. It is Italy's sixth largest bank and has been a subsidiary of BNP Paribas since 2006.
History
Founded in 1913 as Istituto Nazionale di Credito per la Cooperazione, ...
and president of the Fiduciaria.
He participated heroically in
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
and took part in the conquest of
Fiume
Rijeka ( , , ; also known as Fiume hu, Fiume, it, Fiume ; local Chakavian: ''Reka''; german: Sankt Veit am Flaum; sl, Reka) is the principal seaport and the third-largest city in Croatia (after Zagreb and Split). It is located in Primor ...
, led by
Gabriele D'Annunzio. "L' impresa di Fiume" was an incident where a 2,600 rebel army - the Grenadiers of
Sardinia
Sardinia ( ; it, Sardegna, label=Italian, Corsican and Tabarchino ; sc, Sardigna , sdc, Sardhigna; french: Sardaigne; sdn, Saldigna; ca, Sardenya, label=Algherese and Catalan) is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after ...
- from
Ronchi Valsugana
Ronchi Valsugana (''I Rónchi'' in local dialect) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in Trentino in the northern Italian region Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, located about east of Trento. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 380 and an are ...
(then called the
Ronchi dei Legionari
Ronchi dei Legionari ( Bisiacco: ; fur, Roncjis, sl, Ronke, german: Ronkis) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Gorizia in Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Italy, about southwest of Gorizia and northwest of Trieste. It is the location of T ...
), at
Monfalcone marched to Fiume. Fiume (
Rijeka
Rijeka ( , , ; also known as Fiume hu, Fiume, it, Fiume ; local Chakavian: ''Reka''; german: Sankt Veit am Flaum; sl, Reka) is the principal seaport and the third-largest city in Croatia (after Zagreb and Split). It is located in Primor ...
in Croatian) and the city
Kvarner (Carnaro) was then
annexed
Annexation (Latin ''ad'', to, and ''nexus'', joining), in international law, is the forcible acquisition of one state's territory by another state, usually following military occupation of the territory. It is generally held to be an illegal act ...
to the
Kingdom of Italy
The Kingdom of Italy ( it, Regno d'Italia) was a state that existed from 1861, when Victor Emmanuel II of Kingdom of Sardinia, Sardinia was proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy, proclaimed King of Italy, until 1946, when civil discontent led to ...
.
[Felice, Renzo De. ''Storia degli ebrei italiani sotto il fascismo''. Milano: Mondadori, 1977.]
Activist
He took up
socialist
Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...
ideals, and espoused a critical attitude towards the fascist regime, and was referred to the Special Court.
For his participation in antifascist actions he was arrested in 1930 with other opponents of the regime like
Riccardo Bauer and
Ferruccio Parri.
In 1933 he became a leader of the Comitato Assistenza Ebrei Italiani (Committee for Assistance of Italian Jews) 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 ...
(Delegation for the Assistance of Emigrants) and other Jewish relief institutions. The racial laws of 1938 caused a riff between the new leadership of the UCEI (
Dante Almansi and
Lelio Vittorio Valobra) and the Antifascist Jewish components. He was connected with the
American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee and the
World Jewish Congress
The World Jewish Congress (WJC) was founded in Geneva, Switzerland in August 1936 as an international federation of Jewish communities and organizations. According to its mission statement, the World Jewish Congress' main purpose is to act as ...
; he founded many Italian ''
hakhsharot''. A fervent Zionist, in early 1939 Cantoni also tried unsuccessfully to persuade the British ambassador in Rome to accept a plan for the enrollment of Jewish volunteers in their army, that plan would be realized only in the last years of World War II with the creation of the
Jewish Brigade.
Resistance
During World War II he strongly and continuously assisted Italian and European Jews; he was arrested by the Fascists in 1940 and interned in
Urbisaglia (a town near
Macerata
Macerata () is a city and ''comune'' in central Italy, the county seat of the province of Macerata in the Marche region. It has a population of about 41,564.
History
The historical city centre is on a hill between the Chienti and Potenza ri ...
) and in the
Tremiti Islands, but he continued his activities.
He resumed contact with the headquarters of the Genoese
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 ...
and was employed as a courier in Tuscany for the distribution of funds in collaboration with Fathers
Leto Casini
In ancient Greek mythology and religion, Leto (; grc-gre, Λητώ , ''Lētṓ'', or , ''Lātṓ'' in Doric Greek) is a goddess and the mother of Apollo, the god of music, and Artemis, the goddess of the hunt.Hesiod, ''Theogony'404–409/ref> ...
and
Giorgio Nissim.
In 1943 he was betrayed and captured in
Florence
Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...
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 ...
and sent to
Auschwitz
Auschwitz concentration camp ( (); also or ) was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. It con ...
, but during the journey he jumped from the train near
Padua
Padua ( ; it, Padova ; vec, Pàdova) is a city and ''comune'' in Veneto, northern Italy. Padua is on the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice. It is the capital of the province of Padua. It is also the economic and communications hub of the ...
and saved himself.
He escaped 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 ...
and there began to reorganize the life of Italian Jews, establishing Jewish schools and various activities with the Milanese
Astorre Mayer.
After the war he continued his involvement in the
Italian Socialist Party
The Italian Socialist Party (, PSI) was a socialist and later social-democratic political party in Italy, whose history stretched for longer than a century, making it one of the longest-living parties of the country.
Founded in Genoa in 1892, ...
and the Jewish organizations in
Milan
Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...
. After the liberation in 1945 he assumed the position of president of the Jewish community of Milan and was an active member of the CLNAI (Committee for National Liberation of North Italy). He was also the Italian leader of the OSE (
Oeuvre de Secours aux Enfants
Oeuvre(s) or Œuvre(s) may refer to:
* A work of art; or, more commonly, the body of work of a creator
Books
* '' L'Œuvre'', a novel by Émile Zola
* ''Œuvres'', a work by Emil Cioran
* ''Œuvres'', a work by Auguste Brizeux
* ''Oeuvres'', a ...
). While organizing Jewish life in Milan, he was also a strong supporter the
Aliyah Bet (illegal immigration to Israel), raising substantial funds. Recognizing the critical need to care for Jewish orphans, liberated from concentration camps, who were then drifting into northern Italy, he was instrumental in transforming a former fascist boarding school at
Selvino
Selvino (Bergamasque: ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Bergamo in the Italian region of Lombardy, located about northeast of Milan and about northeast of Bergamo. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 2,045 and an ...
, in the Italian Alps near Milan, into a home to rehabilitate around
800 of these children and to prepare them for emigration to Palestine.
[ Aharon Megged, ''The Story of the Selvino Children: Journey to the Promised Land'', Am Oved, 1984.] Cantoni also held posts in the Italian Zionist Federation and in the
Keren Hayesod
Keren Hayesod – United Israel Appeal ( he, קרן היסוד, literally "The Foundation Fund") is an official fundraising organization for Israel with branches in 45 countries. Its work is carried out in accordance with the Keren haYesod Law-5 ...
.
He was an executive member of the World Jewish Congress.
Post-War Involvement
From 1946 to 1954 Cantoni was president of the Union of Italian Jewish Communities and worked to obtain from the Italian government freedom of Jewish worship equal to that of the Catholics, without complete success. He was also president of the Organizzazione Sanitaria Ebraica (
Jewish Health Organization) from the inception of its activities in Italy. Until his death, he spared no effort to maintain relations between the Jews of the
Diaspora
A diaspora ( ) is a population that is scattered across regions which are separate from its geographic place of origin. Historically, the word was used first in reference to the dispersion of Greeks in the Hellenic world, and later Jews after ...
and
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
and to establish diplomatic relations between Israel and other countries.
A foundation, the ''Israele la Fondazione per la Gioventù Ebraica Raffaele Cantoni'' (Raffaele Cantoni Foundation for Jewish youth in Israel), has been set up in his name. The Foundation offers annual
scholarships to young Jewish immigrants arriving from Italy and who intend to enroll in universities,
yeshivot, or other institutes for advanced learning.
References
External links
Union of Italian Jewish Communities Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cantoni, Raffaele
Jewish resistance members during the Holocaust
Politicians from Venice
Italian resistance movement members
20th-century Italian Jews
Italian socialists
Italian Zionists
1971 deaths
1896 births
Presidents of the Union of Italian Jewish Communities