My family with Nicola (far right)
My husband Don and I hosted an exchange student from Italy, Nicola Dalla Torre, for one semester this school year. While he was with us, he heard many stories of World War 2 but the one that touched his heart the most was the Monks of Assisi saving hundreds of Jews. He went home in January and researched it finding a survivor in Rome (quite a distance from his home). By telephone and mailing back and forth (she doesn't have email), he has come up with her story in a short bio form. He has written a children's book and it's currently being illustrated by a young artist in Bettendorf, Iowa. Here is the amazing story:
Graziella Viterbi was born on 1926, May 19th in Padova, a city in the north-eastern part of Italy. She lived happily in a villa with her mother and father. She studied with a private teacher during the elementary school years. She took courses of eurhythmics and foreign languages. At the age of six, she began to learn about Jewish culture and respect for the Jewish festivals. A woman named Ada Levi, then wife of the Padova’s Rabbi, was her teacher. During these early years, Graziella had many friends - both Jewish and Christian.
In 1933, when Graziella was seven, her little sister, Miriam, was born. Through the ratification of some national laws, the racial discrimination of Jews began in Italy in 1938. At that time Graziella was twelve and spending her holidays with her parents in Lido di Venezia, a famous Italian tourist destination.
The newspapers reported that every Jew, whether student or teacher, was no longer welcome at the state schools. Graziella’s reaction to the bylaw was really different to the one of her friends and relatives. She thought: “They don’t want me? Well, so I don’t belong any more to the group and I’m happy as it is”. Miriam though was 5 years old, and felt thoroughly the racial laws: she didn’t have many friends and she suffered from loneliness. Also Graziella’s father, teacher at Padova’s university, endured the removal from the school.
A year later Lucia and Clara Levi, two Jewish sisters who were former teachers, decided to host in their house all the students that had been expelled from the school “Tito Livio” in Padova, from 8th to 12th grade. Afterwards a villa in Pontecorvo was bought and a real Jewish school was organized, with Augusto Levi as Principal. Religion classes were taught here as well.
The persecutions started soon: more and more often there were intimidating phone calls, and Jews walking alone at night were attacked and beaten. Some started talking about going away. Some were able to go abroad: this, for example, was decided by Graziella’s father’s family, who took refuge in the United States of America.
During summer 1943, Graziella’s family had to decide where to go on vacation. The choices were few because a list of the places where the Jews weren’t allowed to go to was published. The family chose Porretta, in province of Bologna. The vacation was serene, until the arrival of the German troops on 1943, September 8th. Most of the residents in this hotel were Jewish so to avoid problems the owner decided to move them to a nursing home in the mountains. It was their hope they wouldn’t be found and while they were moving, there was talk of the possibility of going south, to Assisi. The city was considered a safe destination because it was far from the main road junctions and a fantastic podestà (Italian ancient name for “mayor”) governed the city.
Telling the German police that they were from the South of Italy and that they were heading back home, the Viterbis obtained a car to reach Assisi. In Arezzo, halfway to their destination, the car broke down, but they successfully get to Assisi without making the police suspicious. When they arrived, they looked for accommodation, but all the hotels had been confiscated by the Nazis. They heard about an underground movement led by a bishop, Placido Nicolini. It seems that with the help of Aldo Brunacci and the Franciscan monk Rufino Nicacci it would hide Jews in the religious buildings of the city. Furthermore, with the help of the Brizzi brothers, they were able to supply Jews with false documents. Once they talked with the bishop, the Viterbis had their new identity cards printed out and their last name changed into “Varelli”.
Every single night Graziella told her sister the story she had invented about their provenience: they were from Lecce, in the south of Italy. The anxiety about knowing perfectly the story grew when Graziella found in Assisi a person from Lecce for real that talked to her: she had to speak with a perfect local accent and to know mnemonically the streets of the city. Fortunately, she had learned the location of the main buildings thanks to a map found during their stay.
One day, while arresting a couple of Jews that were suspected of having done something wrong, the Gestapo found a tiny defect in the seal on their identity cards. The bishop immediately decided to change all the identity cards already handed out. The last names were changed again. “Varelli” became “Vitelli”. The choice of the last name was fundamental. The first letters had to be the same of the real last name, so that if a Jew had been asked to sign a document, they would have had the time to correct themselves if they had started signing their real name.
Il podestà Fortini fu anch’egli di grande aiuto per la famiglia Viterbi. Propose di nascondere nel proprio giardino alcuni loro effetti personali, cosicché anche se sotto investigazione, non vi era prova del loro essere ebrei. Quando poi gli fu chiesto di relazionare sulla città che reggeva, negò la presenza di ebrei all’interno del territorio comunale.
The podestà Fortini was also helpful for the Viterbis. He proposed to bury some of their personal effects in his garden, so that even if under investigation, there was no proof of their being Jewish. Then, when he was asked about the city he governed by the Germans, he denied the presence of Jews hidden in the city
The Nazi colonel Müller was assigned to control Assisi. He may have known about the underground organization but turned a blind eye to the situation. He was part of the German army, but he didn’t share the politic ideology. There was a Nazi plan scheduled to attack Assisi, but Müller obstruct the German troops from destroying the city. As soon as he went back to Germany, he faced trouble because of the obstruction. He went back many times to Assisi, where the mayor and the citizens decided to grant him honorary citizenship. When he died two years later many olive tree branches, the Christian symbol of chastity and peace, were sent to sprig his grave.
Following the repeal of the racial laws, Graziella’s father obtained a job as a teacher at Perugia’s University. The Viterbis stayed in Assisi for seven years. Graziella moved to Rome, where she specialized in Law / Criminology. Also, she studied Social Assistance at the Psychology faculty of the same college. She became editor of a newspaper in association with an humanitarian Israeli organization and she doubled also as social worker for Joint, an American organization for the assistance of the Jew refugees from East Europe.
Now she lives in Rome alone. She’s widower. She has two sons and four grandchildren, two girls and two boys. She’s been trying to talk carefully about her Holocaust experience with the eldest. This granddaughter was really impressed by what happened to her grandma, but hasn’t expressed a personal reflection yet.
Graziella Viterbi was born on 1926, May 19th in Padova, a city in the north-eastern part of Italy. She lived happily in a villa with her mother and father. She studied with a private teacher during the elementary school years. She took courses of eurhythmics and foreign languages. At the age of six, she began to learn about Jewish culture and respect for the Jewish festivals. A woman named Ada Levi, then wife of the Padova’s Rabbi, was her teacher. During these early years, Graziella had many friends - both Jewish and Christian.
In 1933, when Graziella was seven, her little sister, Miriam, was born. Through the ratification of some national laws, the racial discrimination of Jews began in Italy in 1938. At that time Graziella was twelve and spending her holidays with her parents in Lido di Venezia, a famous Italian tourist destination.
The newspapers reported that every Jew, whether student or teacher, was no longer welcome at the state schools. Graziella’s reaction to the bylaw was really different to the one of her friends and relatives. She thought: “They don’t want me? Well, so I don’t belong any more to the group and I’m happy as it is”. Miriam though was 5 years old, and felt thoroughly the racial laws: she didn’t have many friends and she suffered from loneliness. Also Graziella’s father, teacher at Padova’s university, endured the removal from the school.
A year later Lucia and Clara Levi, two Jewish sisters who were former teachers, decided to host in their house all the students that had been expelled from the school “Tito Livio” in Padova, from 8th to 12th grade. Afterwards a villa in Pontecorvo was bought and a real Jewish school was organized, with Augusto Levi as Principal. Religion classes were taught here as well.
The persecutions started soon: more and more often there were intimidating phone calls, and Jews walking alone at night were attacked and beaten. Some started talking about going away. Some were able to go abroad: this, for example, was decided by Graziella’s father’s family, who took refuge in the United States of America.
During summer 1943, Graziella’s family had to decide where to go on vacation. The choices were few because a list of the places where the Jews weren’t allowed to go to was published. The family chose Porretta, in province of Bologna. The vacation was serene, until the arrival of the German troops on 1943, September 8th. Most of the residents in this hotel were Jewish so to avoid problems the owner decided to move them to a nursing home in the mountains. It was their hope they wouldn’t be found and while they were moving, there was talk of the possibility of going south, to Assisi. The city was considered a safe destination because it was far from the main road junctions and a fantastic podestà (Italian ancient name for “mayor”) governed the city.
Telling the German police that they were from the South of Italy and that they were heading back home, the Viterbis obtained a car to reach Assisi. In Arezzo, halfway to their destination, the car broke down, but they successfully get to Assisi without making the police suspicious. When they arrived, they looked for accommodation, but all the hotels had been confiscated by the Nazis. They heard about an underground movement led by a bishop, Placido Nicolini. It seems that with the help of Aldo Brunacci and the Franciscan monk Rufino Nicacci it would hide Jews in the religious buildings of the city. Furthermore, with the help of the Brizzi brothers, they were able to supply Jews with false documents. Once they talked with the bishop, the Viterbis had their new identity cards printed out and their last name changed into “Varelli”.
Every single night Graziella told her sister the story she had invented about their provenience: they were from Lecce, in the south of Italy. The anxiety about knowing perfectly the story grew when Graziella found in Assisi a person from Lecce for real that talked to her: she had to speak with a perfect local accent and to know mnemonically the streets of the city. Fortunately, she had learned the location of the main buildings thanks to a map found during their stay.
One day, while arresting a couple of Jews that were suspected of having done something wrong, the Gestapo found a tiny defect in the seal on their identity cards. The bishop immediately decided to change all the identity cards already handed out. The last names were changed again. “Varelli” became “Vitelli”. The choice of the last name was fundamental. The first letters had to be the same of the real last name, so that if a Jew had been asked to sign a document, they would have had the time to correct themselves if they had started signing their real name.
Il podestà Fortini fu anch’egli di grande aiuto per la famiglia Viterbi. Propose di nascondere nel proprio giardino alcuni loro effetti personali, cosicché anche se sotto investigazione, non vi era prova del loro essere ebrei. Quando poi gli fu chiesto di relazionare sulla città che reggeva, negò la presenza di ebrei all’interno del territorio comunale.
The podestà Fortini was also helpful for the Viterbis. He proposed to bury some of their personal effects in his garden, so that even if under investigation, there was no proof of their being Jewish. Then, when he was asked about the city he governed by the Germans, he denied the presence of Jews hidden in the city
The Nazi colonel Müller was assigned to control Assisi. He may have known about the underground organization but turned a blind eye to the situation. He was part of the German army, but he didn’t share the politic ideology. There was a Nazi plan scheduled to attack Assisi, but Müller obstruct the German troops from destroying the city. As soon as he went back to Germany, he faced trouble because of the obstruction. He went back many times to Assisi, where the mayor and the citizens decided to grant him honorary citizenship. When he died two years later many olive tree branches, the Christian symbol of chastity and peace, were sent to sprig his grave.
Following the repeal of the racial laws, Graziella’s father obtained a job as a teacher at Perugia’s University. The Viterbis stayed in Assisi for seven years. Graziella moved to Rome, where she specialized in Law / Criminology. Also, she studied Social Assistance at the Psychology faculty of the same college. She became editor of a newspaper in association with an humanitarian Israeli organization and she doubled also as social worker for Joint, an American organization for the assistance of the Jew refugees from East Europe.
Now she lives in Rome alone. She’s widower. She has two sons and four grandchildren, two girls and two boys. She’s been trying to talk carefully about her Holocaust experience with the eldest. This granddaughter was really impressed by what happened to her grandma, but hasn’t expressed a personal reflection yet.
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