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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

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 ...

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 Fascism is a far-right, authoritarian, ultra-nationalist political ideology and movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and political and cultural liberalism, a belief in natural social hierarchy and the ...

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 P ...

town of

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 ar ...

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 th ...

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 Gurkha ...

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 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 ...

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 to ...

. 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 A kibbutz ( he, קִבּוּץ / , lit. "gathering, clustering"; plural: kibbutzim / ) is an intentional community in Israel that was traditionally based on agriculture. The first kibbutz, established in 1909, was Degania. Today, farming h ...

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 ...

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

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

References

Further reading

Images