![ערב פסח בבית](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/55/%D7%A2%D7%A8%D7%91_%D7%A4%D7%A1%D7%97_%D7%91%D7%91%D7%99%D7%AA.jpg)
The Selvino children were a group of approximately 810 Jewish children orphaned by 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; ...
,
[Ahron Megged; Vivien Eden, ]
The Story of the Selvino Children
', August 2001, Valentine Mitchell & Co Ltd, rescued after
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 opposing ...
from
ghetto
A ghetto, often called ''the'' ghetto, is a part of a city in which members of a minority group live, especially as a result of political, social, legal, environmental or economic pressure. Ghettos are often known for being more impoverished t ...
s and
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 simpl ...
s and housed in a former
Fascist children's home called Sciesopoli in the
Alpine
Alpine may refer to any mountainous region. It may also refer to:
Places Europe
* Alps, a European mountain range
** Alpine states, which overlap with the European range
Australia
* Alpine, New South Wales, a Northern Village
* Alpine National Pa ...
town of
Selvino,
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
. The facility had been constructed in the 1930s (the colony was inaugurated on June 11, 1933, built by the architect of sports facilities
Paolo Vietti Violi) as a "sports palace" or gymnasium and training centre for athletes). There, the children were allowed to recover physically, mentally, and spiritually from their ordeal, while being instructed both in the general education they had missed during their imprisonment, as well as in their heritage of
Judaism
Judaism ( he, ''Yahăḏūṯ'') is an Abrahamic, monotheistic, and ethnic religion comprising the collective religious, cultural, and legal tradition and civilization of the Jewish people. It has its roots as an organized religion in t ...
and Judaic culture, in preparation for their later relocation to the still British-ruled
Mandatory Palestine
Mandatory Palestine ( ar, فلسطين الانتدابية '; he, פָּלֶשְׂתִּינָה (א״י) ', where "E.Y." indicates ''’Eretz Yiśrā’ēl'', the Land of Israel) was a geopolitical entity established between 1920 and 1948 ...
as part of the ''
Bricha
Bricha ( he, בריחה, translit. ''Briẖa'', "escape" or "flight"), also called the Bericha Movement, was the underground organized effort that helped Jewish Holocaust survivors escape post– World War II Europe to the British Mandate ...
'' illegal immigration programme. The house was run by members of a
Palestinian Jewish unit of the
British Army
The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...
stationed in Northern Italy under Moshe Zeiri, along with the generous help of many Italian citizens. From early 1947 to May 1948, when the
State of Israel was
declared, Amalia (Mania) Schoeps was director of Sciesopoli.
The house was organized by members of the
Gordonia movement, a
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 ...
pioneering youth movement named for
Aaron David Gordon
Aaron David Gordon ( he, אהרן דוד גורדון; ), more commonly known as A. D. Gordon, was a Labour Zionist thinker and the spiritual force behind practical Zionism and Labor Zionism. He founded Hapoel Hatzair, a movement that set the t ...
. Its motto was ''Beit Aliyat HaNo'ar'', "house of the youth ''
aliya
Aliya ( ar, عَلِيَّة ), Aaliyah, Alia, or Aliyah is an Arabic feminine given name. It is the feminine of the name Ali, meaning "exalted".
People
* Aliya bint Ali (1911–1950), Queen of Iraq
* ''Aliyah bint Abdallah al-Mansur'', was th ...
''", where ''aliya'' means "ascension"
o_the_Land_of_Israel.html" ;"title="Land_of_Israel.html" ;"title="o the Land of Israel">o the Land of Israel">Land_of_Israel.html" ;"title="o the Land of Israel">o the Land of Israel i.e. moving to the Land of Israel. It was a Hakshara — a kibbutz outside of (then) Palestine for the training of ''chaluzim'' or young pioneers to move to the Land of Israel, a Zionist collective which emphasized a preparatory program of studying and working before making ''aliya''.
At that time, many residents of Selvino gave shelter and extended hospitality to Jewish families, which was documented in the City Hall of Selvino. After 1948, Sciesopoli was transformed into a home for needy and sick children, as well as a public school for these children.
In 1983, a group of 66 Jews, once refugee children in Selvino, returned to town. The Mayor, Vinicio Grigis, and town residents received them warmly. The city of Selvino was twinned with
Kibbutz Tze'elim
Tze'elim ( he, צֶאֱלִים) is a kibbutz in southern Israel. Located in the Negev desert, it falls under the jurisdiction of Eshkol Regional Council. In it had a population of . A military training base of the ground forces of the IDF (ofte ...
in the
Negev
The Negev or Negeb (; he, הַנֶּגֶב, hanNegév; ar, ٱلنَّقَب, an-Naqab) is a desert and semidesert region of southern Israel. The region's largest city and administrative capital is Beersheba (pop. ), in the north. At its sout ...
, where many "Children of Selvino" settled. Since 1983, many survivors and their family members have returned to Selvino, tracing their past of the ''Bricha'' (flight) and
Aliyah Bet
''Aliyah Bet'' ( he, עלייה ב', " Aliyah 'B'" – bet being the second letter of the Hebrew alphabet) was the code name given to illegal immigration by Jews, most of whom were refugees escaping from Nazi Germany, and later Holocau ...
.
![Sciesopoli main building](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/ba/Sciesopoli_main_building.jpg)
A plaque (see images) was installed in 1983, reading:
Between the years 1945–1948, nearly 800 children and youths – Holocaust orphans – were gathered in this house. They were survivors of the ghettos and concentration camps. Here the joys of youth and the belief in mankind, that was snatched from them, were restored to them. They learned their people's ancient tongue – the language of the Bible, and were prepared for life in their homeland – Israel. Here they learned to recognize and cherish the goodness of the Italian people.
The building is now in a state of complete abandonment, despite the efforts of the former mayor to allocate funds to publish in Italian the book written by Aharon Megged, and the twinning of the city with Kibbutz Tze'elim. Plans to demolish the building alarmed a group of activists who fear that a heroic chapter of history following the war will be erased from the memory of future generations. They believe that part of the building should be secured as a memorial/museum to honor the lives of orphan children survivors of the Holocaust, as well as honoring committed, well-wishing Italian citizens of Selvino.
As of 2014–2015 a movement to "restore and save Sciesopoli" has been established. As part of this, Miriam Bisk, Tami Sharon, Nitza Sarner, Marco Cavallarin, Enrico Grisanti, Bernardino Pasinelli and many other members of the organizing committee have collected signatures to lobby the Italian government.
References
Further reading
* ''The Story of Selvino's Children: Journey to the Promised Land''; Megged, Aharon and Eden, Vivian (translator); Published By Vallentine-Mitchell & Co Ltd.;
www.sciesopoli.com
Images
Image:Selvino5.jpg
Image:Sciesopoli - plaque (Hebrew).jpg
Image:Sciesopoli - plaque (Italian).jpg
{{DEFAULTSORT:Selvino Children
Jewish Italian history
Jewish concentration camp survivors
Children in the Holocaust
Buildings and structures in the Province of Bergamo