My Italian Secret: The Forgotten Heroes

I LOVE A CHALLENGE.

IT MOTIVATES ME TO DO MY BEST.

I'M NOT THE KIND OF MAN TO HOLD BACK FROM A FIGHT.

IN 1937, GINO BARTALI WINS

THE GINO d'ITALIA FOR THE SECOND STRAIGHT YEAR

AND SECURES HIS PLACE AS EUROPE'S BIGGEST SPORTS IDOL.

BENITO MUSSOLINI'S FASCIST PARTY HAS RULED ITALY

WITH INTIMIDATION AND VIOLENCE FOR 15 YEARS,

AND HE WILL SOON LEAD HIS COUNTRY INTO WAR.

BEFORE IT IS OVER, GINO BARTALI, LIKE EVERY ITALIAN,

WILL FACE A TERRIBLE MORAL CHOICE.

THESE ARE TOUGH TIMES.

MOST PEOPLE STRUGGLE JUST TO SURVIVE.

IT'S A WORLD WHERE ARROGANCE RULES.

SOME HAVE POWER. SOME DON'T.

A LIFE CAN HANG BY A THREAD.

IT'S A WORLD WHERE YOU MUST DO GOOD --

BUT DON'T TALK ABOUT IT.

-GINO BARTALI WAS RISKING HIS LIFE ALL DURING THE WAR.

IN MY OPINION, HE IS A HERO.

-THERE WERE SO MANY PEOPLE ALL OVER ITALY

WHO KEPT OUR SECRET AND WERE INVOLVED IN OUR RESCUE.

LOTS OF BRAVE ITALIANS RISKED THEIR LIVES.

I'VE ALWAYS WANTED MY GRANDSON TO KNOW WHAT THEY DID.

-BY 1938, WITH WAR LOOMING IN EUROPE,

ITALY IS ONE OF THE ONLY SAFE HAVENS FOR JEWS

AND OTHER REFUGEES FLEEING NAZI PERSECUTION.

MY MOTHER WAS PREGNANT WITH ME.

SHE WITNESSED KRISTALLNACHT

AND DECIDED IT WAS TIME TO LEAVE GERMANY.

10 DAYS AFTER HER ARRIVAL IN MILANO, I WAS BORN.

WE WERE LIVING IN MILAN FOR TWO AND A HALF YEARS

WHEN WE WERE SENT TO FERRAMONTI.

I WAS 3 YEARS OLD.

BUT IN MY MEMORY, I NEVER EXPERIENCED

A BAD FEELING ABOUT THE PLACE.

IT'S A VERY STRANGE FEELING...

TO BE COMING BACK HERE.

-I REALLY, NOW, THOUGHT, "CAN I DO THIS TRIP?"

AND THEN I DECIDED IT HAS TO BE DONE.

I DID SAY THANK YOU MANY TIMES, BUT IT'S NEVER ENOUGH.

WHEN MY FAMILY CAME FROM GERMANY IN '35,

I DIDN'T FEEL JEWISH.

I FELT ITALIAN.

I JOINED THE FASCIST PARTY.

I MARCHED EVERY SATURDAY, AND I WAS VERY HAPPY.

MY MOTHER WAS A CATHOLIC,

BUT MY FATHER'S FAMILY WAS JEWISH.

THEY HAD BEEN IN ITALY FOR MANY GENERATIONS,

WERE INTEGRATED INTO ITALIAN SOCIETY.

IN FACT, MY AUNT WAS CALLED ITALIA.

THEY WERE VERY ACCOMPLISHED, WELL-EDUCATED.

MY FATHER STUDIED CHEMISTRY AND PHYSICS,

AND THEN, VERY YOUNG, HE WAS GIVEN THE DIRECTORSHIP

OF A BIG FACTORY IN PADUA.

MY FATHER AND MOTHER WERE A VERY HANDSOME COUPLE,

AND YOUNG, AND, OF COURSE,

THEY MOVED INTO SOCIETY IN PADUA,

BUT LITTLE BY LITTLE,

THE SOCIETY, LET'S SAY, MOVED AWAY FROM THEM.

-SOON AFTER ADOLPH HITLER VISITS ROME IN 1938,

WITH HIS PLAN FOR A RACIALLY PURE HOMELAND

ALREADY UNDERWAY IN GERMANY,

IL DUCE DECIDES TO IMPOSE A NEW RACIAL POLICY IN ITALY.

"LAWS FOR THE PROTECTION OF THE RACE."

WHEN I WENT TO SCHOOL THAT DAY,

I SAW MY TEACHER TELLING THE PRINCIPAL THAT I AM A JEW.

HE SAID, "THIS CHILD IS A JEW."

AND THEN THE PRINCIPAL CAME TO ME TOGETHER WITH A POLICEMAN,

AND THEY TOLD ME THAT FROM THAT MOMENT,

I AM EXPELLED FROM THE SCHOOL, AND I HAVE TO GO HOME.

I STARTED TO CRY, BECAUSE I COULDN'T UNDERSTAND

WHY I CANNOT GO TO MY SCHOOL.

PAPA LOST HIS JOB,

AND IT BEGAN TO BE MORE AND MORE DIFFICULT.

WHAT WAS TERRIBLE WAS THE SILENCE.

THESE RACIAL LAWS WERE ACCEPTED, PRAISED,

AND SUDDENLY THE JEW WAS REALLY A DIRTY HUMAN BEING.

-ALL THIS TALK ABOUT HOMELAND IS JUST PROPAGANDA.

THE WORLD IS THE HOMELAND OF ALL HUMAN BEINGS.

THE WORDS OF OUR PRIESTS MADE A BIG IMPRESSION ON ME --

"ALWAYS FOLLOW THE TEACHINGS OF JESUS.

DO GOOD UNTO OTHERS."

ONE DAY, IN FLORENCE,

THE PRESIDENT OF THE CYCLISTS UNION CAME RUNNING UP.

IT WAS THE LAST DAY TO QUALIFY FOR THE TOUR de FRANCE,

AND HE HAD A TELEGRAM FROM THE FASCIST PARTY SECRETARY

ORDERING ME TO LEAVE AT ONCE FOR PARIS.

MUSSOLINI HAS A PLAN

TO SHOW OFF ITALY'S ARYAN SUPERIORITY ON THE WORLD STAGE.

A BARTALI TRIUMPH IN THE TOUR

WOULD PROVE THAT ITALIANS, TOO, BELONG TO THE MASTER RACE.

THE TOUR de FRANCE.

-IN THE PYRENEES, AS BARTALI CHARGES AHEAD,

A RECORD CROWD GATHERS ALONG THE SIDELINES.

-ON JULY 31st, HEADLINES ABOUT BARTALI'S LEAD

APPEARED NEXT TO A STORY

WITH THE LATEST ON ITALY'S NEW POLICY --

"JEWS DO NOT BELONG TO THE ITALIAN RACE."

THE NEXT DAY, BARTALI WINS THE TOUR'S CRUCIAL ALPINE STAGE

AND HOLDS ONTO THE LEAD ALL THE WAY TO PARIS.

-THE ITALIAN FASCISTS TAKE CREDIT,

CALLING HIM THEIR ARYAN CHAMPION.

BARTALI REJECTS THE PARTY'S PATRONAGE,

INSULTING IL DUCE.

-THE PARTY HAS STARTED A CAMPAIGN AGAINST ME,

ACCUSING ME OF LACK OF PATRIOTISM.

BUT I'M NOT THE TYPE TO BACK DOWN.

-IT'S NOT THE LAST TIME BARTALI WILL DEFY THE FASCISTS.

LOOK AT THAT.

PEOPLE LIVED THERE. I LIVED THERE.

-IN JUNE 1940, WHEN ITALY ENTERS THE WAR,

ALL FOREIGNERS ARE RELOCATED

TO CAMPS SPREAD ACROSS THE COUNTRY.

ITALIAN JEWS ARE ALLOWED TO REMAIN IN THEIR OWN HOMES,

BUT MORE THAN 10,000 FOREIGN JEWS

ARE AMONG THOSE SENT AWAY.

THE INTERNEES ARE ALLOWED TO PLAY MUSIC,

WEAR THEIR OWN CLOTHING, AND HOLD RELIGIOUS SERVICES.

IN THE HILL TOWN OF CAMPANIA,

THE INTERNEES LIVE IN A 14th-CENTURY CONVENT

AND CAN MOVE ABOUT THE TOWN

TO MINGLE WITH THE LOCAL CITIZENS.

FERRAMONTI,

BUILT IN A MALARIA-RIDDEN SWAMP IN CALABRIA,

IS THE LARGEST CAMP,

AT TIMES HOLDING UP TO 3,000 PEOPLE.

CONDITIONS ARE HARSH AND PRIMITIVE AT FIRST,

BUT FAMILIES LIVE TOGETHER, AND THE CHILDREN GO TO SCHOOL.

RABBI RICCARDO PACIFICI MAKES REGULAR VISITS FROM GENOA.

WONDER IF I CAN FIND MY FATH--

THERE'S -- THAT'S MY MOTHER HOLDING ME,

MY FATHER RIGHT THERE BEHIND HER, AT A PICNIC.

WOW.

I CAN ALMOST FEEL MY PARENTS HERE WITH ME.

LITTLE DID THEY PROBABLY EVEN KNOW

WHAT WOULD FOLLOW THIS.

-AS THE NAZIS IMPRISON AND MURDER MILLIONS,

SOME REFUGEES ARE STILL ABLE TO REACH ITALY.

AFTER 1938, MORE THAN 10,000 ITALIAN AND FOREIGN JEWS

FIND AN ESCAPE ROUTE,

MANY WITH THE HELP OF A RELIEF ORGANIZATION

CALLED THE DELEGATION FOR ASSISTANCE TO JEWISH EMIGRANTS,

OR DELASEM.

THE FASCIST AUTHORITIES COOPERATE

TO SPEED UP THE EXIT OF JEWS TO PALESTINE AND THE U.S.

AND TAKE A PERCENTAGE OF THE AMERICAN MONEY

THAT SUPPORTS THE RESCUE EFFORTS.

GO, GO, GO!

IN THE SUMMER OF 1943,

WHEN AMERICA JOINS THE ALLIED INVASION OF SICILY,

IT LOOKS LIKE THE END FOR FASCISM IN ITALY.

-ENTHUSIASTIC SICILIANS WELCOME THE YANKS WITH OPEN ARMS.

FOR THOUSANDS OF WAR-WEARY SICILIANS,

THE COMING OF UNITED NATIONS FORCES

MEANS FREEDOM FROM FASCISM.

MUSSOLINI IS IMPRISONED,

AND THE ITALIANS AGREE TO A CEASE-FIRE

ON SEPTEMBER 8, 1943.

FIRE!

-THE GERMANS INVADE TO STOP THE ALLIES.

THEY FREE MUSSOLINI

AND INSTALL HIM AS THE HEAD OF A PUPPET REGIME.

ITALY IS DIVIDED IN TWO.

IN THE SOUTH,

THE ALLIES LIBERATE THE CAMPS FOR FOREIGNERS.

IN THE NORTH, THE NAZI S.S. AND THEIR ITALIAN-FASCIST ALLIES

TAKE CONTROL AND BEGIN TO HUNT FOR JEWS.

IN THESE DARK DAYS,

AS THE GERMANS TIGHTEN THEIR CONTROL,

ITALIANS MUST CHOOSE SIDES --

OBEY THE NAZI AUTHORITIES

OR RISK YOUR LIFE TO HELP THOSE IN DANGER.

SOME TAKE UP ARMS TO JOIN THE RESISTANCE.

-THE ITALIAN PARTISANS' MAIN OCCUPATION

WAS TO SAVE PEOPLE FROM THE GERMANS.

-THE NAZI S.S. CONTINUED THEIR SWEEP THROUGH NORTHERN ITALY,

CREATING NEW DANGER FOR CHARLOTTE AND HER PARENTS.

BEFORE THE ALLIES LIBERATED THE CAMPS IN SOUTHERN ITALY,

THEY HAD BEEN TRANSFERRED TO CONFINEMENT

IN A SMALL TOWN NEAR VENICE.

-WE WERE SENT FROM FERRAMONTI TO LIVE WITH A FASCIST FAMILY.

WE LIVED THERE ABOUT A YEAR.

THEN WE WERE TOLD BY SOMEONE THAT WE NEEDED TO LEAVE

BECAUSE THE NEXT DAY, WE WERE DUE TO BE SHIPPED OFF

TO AN EXTERMINATION CAMP.

SAMUELE PANICHI WAS A PARTISAN LEADER WHO HELPED US ESCAPE.

HE BROUGHT US TO HIDE IN A VILLAGE CALLED SECCHIANO.

I REMEMBER WHEN PANICCI DROPPED US OFF

AND HANDED US OVER TO HIS FRIENDS,

VIRGILIO VIRGILI AND DESOLINA AND MEMMO PARUCCINI,

AND THEY WELCOMED US IN.

MWAH!