Emma Giannini-Aeppli

Emma Giannini-Aeppli (born February 2, 1917 in Zurich ; † December 30, 1987 in Zollikon ) was an employee of the Children's Aid of the Swiss Red Cross (SRK). In July 1943 she and her future husband Walter Giannini helped two Belgian-Jewish girls from the children's home in Faverges to flee across the Swiss border. On February 15, 2001, Emma Giannini-Aeppli was posthumously awarded the title of Righteous Among the Nations at the Holocaust Remembrance Center Yad Vashem .

Life

Emma Aeppli was born on February 2, 1917 as the daughter of Heinrich Emil Aeppli, the administrative director of the Swiss Institute for Epileptics in Zurich and Cantonal Council , and Emma Aeppli (née Keller). Her mother died in childbirth. Emma Aeppli attended primary, secondary and women's schools in Zurich, then boarding school in Moudon , where she learned the French language and how to keep accounts . She decided to get involved in the social field. In the Wäckerlingstiftung, a care and support center, she worked as a governess . Later she found a job at the Swiss Institute for Epileptics, first as an educator , then as a nurse and finally as a laboratory assistant . There she met her future husband, Walter Giannini. In addition, Emma Aeppli was heavily involved in the Neumünster parish and advocated a tolerant and open Christian faith .

Together with her then partner Walter Giannini, she decided to get involved with the SRC in France . In July 1943 Emma Aeppli and Walter Giannini helped the two girls Berthe Silber and Rosa Spiegel across the Swiss border. Emma and Walter were married on August 14, 1943. They had four children together. After her engagement in the Swiss Red Cross, she devoted herself to housework and family work. Emma Giannini-Aeppli died on December 30, 1987. On February 15, 2001 Emma Giannini-Aeppli (posthumously) and Walter Giannini were honored for saving two Jewish children.

rescue

In July 1943, Berthe Silber and Rose Spiegel - they were the last Jewish children in the children's home in Faverges - left the children's home, assuming they would go to another children's home. The pregnant Emma Aeppli - she wanted to give birth to her child in Switzerland - and Walter Giannini accompanied the two girls. They first traveled by bus to Annecy , from where they took the train to Annemasse . They approached the Swiss border near Geneva on foot . An Italian border guard, who became aware of the refugees, allowed the four to continue their journey after a brief exchange with Walter Giannini. They followed the border fence until Walter Giannini bent down and lifted a wire so the two girls could crawl through. Emma Aeppli and Walter Giannini told the girls to run towards a nearby hill. They promised Berthe Silber and Rose Spiegel to pick them up there.

Walter Giannini and Emma Aeppli deliberately had no money with them in order to be able to plausibly pretend in an emergency that they were on a day trip with their supposed two children. Emma's father therefore had to send money to Geneva so that they could continue their journey to Zurich . They took the train to Zollikon , where Emma's cousin, Ernst Ulrich, owned the restaurant and Gasthaus zur Höhe. Berthe Silber and Rose Spiegel were allowed to stay there for a few days.

After a few days, Berthe Silber and Rose Spiegel continued their journey to Basel , where they were taken in by the parents of Mrs. Jecklin, the then director of the children's home in Faverges. After three weeks they were sent to a Jewish orphanage in Basel.

Emma Aeppli gave birth to a child shortly after the rescue operation. It died in childbed .

Individual evidence

1. ^ Members of the Cantonal Council from 1803 (State Archives). Canton of Zurich, accessed on November 10, 2019 . 
2. ^ Comité Français pour Yad Vashem. Retrieved November 9, 2019 . 
3. ↑ Five medals awarded for saving Jews. swissinfo.ch, accessed on November 10, 2019 . 
4. ↑ ^{a b} AfZ Archive for Contemporary History. Retrieved November 9, 2019 .