Difference between revisions of "Category:Pugliano Vecchio (subject)"

Pugliano Vecchio

Pugliano Vecchio (near Rimini)

Overview

A group of Jewish refugees from Yugoslavia who had been interned in various locations in mainland Italy escaped from the Germans after 8 September 1943, from Asolo down to Bari, passing through Adria, Bellaria and Pugliano Vecchio. Initially made up of 18 people, all related to each other, the group was soon joined by other relatives and a number of refugees they met on their way, finally swelling to include 38 members. In Bellaria the group was taken in by a hotel, then still open, the "Savoia" owned by Ezio Giorgetti. An atmosphere of cooperation, followed by solidarity, soon prevailed and Giorgetti formed a firm friendship with some of the guests, including Josef Konforti and his father-in-law Ziga Neumann. In 1964 Ezio Giorgetti travelled to Jerusalem to receive from the Yad Vashem the title of "Righteous among the Nations " for his efforts to rescue this group of Jews, and in Bellaria-Igea Marina a square was named after him.

In addition to the hotelier, two other men gave the group their unconditional support: Osman Carugno, commander of the Carabinieri in Bellaria, who also received the title of "Righteous among the Nations " in 1985, and the shopkeeper Giuseppe Rubino, who was originally from Barletta, but had been evacuated from Milan to Bellaria to escape the allied bombardment.

In 1944, when the situation in Bellaria became too dangerous, the group of Yugoslav Jews moved inland, into the Apennines, where it was easier to hide and find shelter, first in a hotel still being built, and then with the farmers at Pugliano Vecchio.

Josef Konforti’s own words describe the outcome:

"The next morning, Gabrielli came to our hotel. He was from Pugliano Vecchio. He had no official role, but was considered the most important person in the village. He had a small café and a tobacconist’s close to his house. The farmers spent their free time there and we used to go along as well, to chat to the locals. Our sensation was that we shared the same destiny and were thus able to fraternize. Gabrielli came to us not with a proposal, but with a decision. They knew that we had to leave the hotel, that it was difficult for 35 people to find lodgings, but they realized that our main problem would be to procure provisions. Wherever we went, we would be faced with the problem of finding food. If we went to San Leo, we would have to fight for every last crumb. The villagers had stocks of meat, flour and preserves, while we had nothing and any food we might have brought with us would not have been enough for us to live on. And if the road that led to San Leo were to be closed, which could quite easily have happened, not even the supplies that came with rationing would have got through. So San Leo was not for us. But every household in Pugliano Vecchio had decided to put one room in their home at our disposal. They cleaned it, gave it a fresh coat of paint and thus offered us the same number of rooms that we had had in the hotel. One house was evacuated completely for us to use as a kitchen and dining room … they dug a deep hole in the middle of the village, covered it with a sort of wardrobe with a door, and that was to be our toilet. When it got too full, they emptied it and used the contents to fertilize their fields. They shared every single thing they owned with us. There was always milk, there were chickens, so fresh eggs every day, and what’s more, there was maize for polenta. They all had meat stored in their attics. We were to share the lot, for better or for worse. We were completely overcome, and surprised, by their offer … And thus, one day, with the help of the farmers and their ox-drawn carts, the whole “hotel” moved to Pugliano Vecchio… Every single one of us found our room clean and freshly whitewashed … I repeat: it was pure human kindness ".

As the Allies advanced and the Germans started to retreat, Pugliano Vecchio was occupied by the Wehrmacht, until on 21 September 1944, at 3am, the German troops left the village. The Jews were finally free and no longer at risk.

The group decided to proceed to Bari, where all the refugees from Yugoslavia were gathering. From there Josef Konforti reached Palestine and settled definitively in Israel.

On 25 April 2004, in the municipal park in Bellaria-Igea Marina, two oak trees were planted in honour of Ezio Giorgetti and Osman Carugno, with a ceremony promoted by the local town council in the context of the commemorations for the anniversary of the Liberation.

Source : Gariwo. Garden of the Righteous Worldwide

Book : "Un cammino lungo un anno" by Emilio Drudi (Giuntina, 2012)

Quasi all’inizio del Bosco dei Giusti, a Gerusalemme, dove gli alberi sono più alti e antichi, c’è un grande carrubo dedicato ad Ezio Giorgetti, un albergatore di Bellaria, il primo in Italia ad aver ricevuto questo onore, il 16 giugno del 1964. Inoltrandosi nel parco, si incontra quello piantato, nell’aprile 1985, in memoria del maresciallo dei carabinieri Osman Carugno. A Giorgetti e Carugno devono la vita 38 ebrei, quasi tutti evasi dal campo di internamento di Asolo subito dopo l’armistizio dell’8 settembre 1943 e arrivati a Bellaria, a nord di Rimini, il giorno 13. Nello sfacelo seguito alla fuga del re e del governo Badoglio a Brindisi, quel gruppo di profughi sta tentando di raggiungere il Sud, per attraversare la linea Gustav e guadagnare la libertà. Un progetto disperato. Il destino vuole, però, che si imbattano in quei due italiani che, davanti alla loro tragedia, non si tirano indietro: li nascondono prima a Bellaria e poi a Pugliano, nel Montefeltro, fino all’arrivo degli Alleati. Un salvataggio lungo un anno: in ognuno di quei 377 giorni, dal 13 settembre 1943 fino al 24 settembre 1944, quei disperati rischiano di essere scoperti, arrestati, avviati ad Auschwitz. E i loro protettori rischiano la galera e la fucilazione, ma sentono d’istinto che non possono cedere. La Shoah, il male assoluto, non è un’atrocità improvvisa, sorta e finita col nazismo. Ha radici antiche in fenomeni come l’antigiudaismo religioso, il nazionalismo, il razzismo che hanno alimentato per secoli l’immaginario antiebraico: l’odio astratto, immotivato, per qualcosa che non si conosce e si percepisce come “diverso”. Quel male assoluto non si sarebbe mai potuto attuare senza l’accettazione cieca dell’immaginario antiebraico e l’obbedienza passiva da parte di tanti, troppi volenterosi uomini e donne “normali”. Senza, cioè, il conformismo, l’opportunismo o l’indifferenza di chi ha preferito girarsi dall’altra parte. Ecco, Giorgetti e Carugno hanno scelto di non girarsi dall’altra parte: si sono ribellati, intuendo che anche il solo “restare indifferenti” li avrebbe resi complici. E quello che ci lasciano è un messaggio quanto mai attuale nel nostro mondo globalizzato eppure così travagliato da problemi di convivenza tra culture ed etnie. Un mondo dove ogni giorno entriamo in contatto con uomini e donne “diversi”, di tutti i paesi della terra. Ma dove troppo spesso vengono alimentati “immaginari” simili a quello che per secoli ha perseguitato gli ebrei: contro i rom, ad esempio, o contro gli immigrati.

Source : Giuntina

The children

Among the Jewish refugees at Pugliano were at least 6 children:

• Marton Ruben (M / Croatia, 1929), Holocaust survivor -- Spalato to Treviso
• Ivan Nadasi (M / Croatia, 1933), Holocaust survivor -- Spalato to Treviso
• Elli Rothmuller (F / Croatia, 1931), Holocaust survivor -- Spalato to Treviso
• Ruza Rothmuller (F / Croatia, 1929), Holocaust survivor -- Spalato to Treviso
• Lavoslav Schwarz (M / Serbia, 1932), Holocaust survivor -- Spalato to Treviso
• Mia Schwarz (F / Serbia, 1928), Holocaust survivor -- Spalato to Treviso

Source : Ebrei stranieri internati in Italy

The list of Jews helped by Ezio Giorgetti at Bellaria includes (some left the group before going to Pugliano):

• Ziga Neumann (1894) & Bela Schwarz Neumann (1897) [husband & wife]
• Adolf Neumann (1862)
• Danica Neumann Rothmuller (1904) -- Ruth (Ruza) Rothmuller (1929) -- Elli Rothmuller (1931) [mother & two daughters]
• Joseph (Giuseppe) Konforty (1912) -- Maja Neumann Konforty (1920) [husband & wife]
• Bianca Alcalay Konforty (1893) [mother of Giuseppe Konforty]

• Hugo Schwarz (1900) & Conjecta Hirschl Schwarz (1904) -- [Mia & Ladoslav] [husband, wife & 2 children]

-- Mia Helling -- Leo Schwartz --

• Zeljko Nadasi (1901) & Ljerka Hirschl Nadasi (1909) + Ivan Nadasi (1933) [husband, wife & child]

-- Ozian Schwartz --

• Eugen Schwarz (1898) & Zdenka Lausch Schwartz (1912) [husband & wife]

• Joseph Lackembach (1888) -- Blanka Hirschl Lackenbach (1903) -- Stefi Lackenbach (1893)

• Mirko Hirschl (1907) & Nade Blau Hirschl (1918) [husband & wife]

-- Eugenija Hirschl

Stefa Schwartz --

• Erna Hirschl Marton (1894) -- Reuben Marton (1929) [mother & son]

• Frohlich from Zagreb -- Oskar Frolich (1888) Rura Frohlich (sorella di Oskar, 1886-1944) -- Frohlich's son, Franz (24 anni) -- Frohlich's daughter (18 anni). Da Bellaria si traferiscono nel 1944 nella zona di Firenze.

• Leopold Studeny (1895) & Carlotta Singer Studeny (1921) [husband & wife] -- Ljubljana -- Bari

• Lehrer(er) Deutch family (4 persons) -- Padre Madre e due figlie <Beatrice Lehrer (F / Croatia, 1934), Holocaust survivor -- Lubiana to Rovigo to Switzerland> + <Erika Lehrer (F / Croatia, 1936), Holocaust survivor -- Lubiana to Rovigo to Switzerland> - Dopo pochi mesi scappano da Bellaria per la Svizzera.

• Walter Pick (1908) -- Switzerland

External links

• Gariwo: garden of the Righteous Worldwide