Rufino Niccacci
Rufino Niccacci OFM (born Salvatore Niccacci in Deruta on March 19, 1911 ; died October 16, 1976 ) was an Italian priest who sheltered numerous Jews in Assisi during the Holocaust . He was recognized by Yad Vashem as Righteous Among the Nations on April 28, 1974 .
life and work
In September 1943, Salvatore Niccacci, with the religious name Padre Rufino , Guardian of the Franciscan Monastery of San Damiano in Assisi , was around 20 minutes' walk below the old town in the middle of fields and olive trees. Under the direction of Bishop Giuseppe Placido Nicolini and his secretary, Aldo Brunacci (1914–2007), chairman of the Refugee Support Committee, he procured false documents for Jews and gave them refuge in churches, monasteries and other buildings of Assisi. Some of them wore religious clothes as camouflage , some were hidden in the spacious cellars of the monasteries. The citizens of the city and also the mayor were absolutely silent. The refugees were also able to practice their Jewish religion on a modest scale. In 1943 they were able to celebrate Yom Kippur together with the nuns of their refuge convent.
Valentin Müller , the German city commander of Assisi, was at least indirectly involved in the success of the operation . He was a devout Catholic and had applied for the status of a hospital town in order to protect the churches and cultural sites in Assisi and had it approved by General Albert Kesselring . As a result, Nazi troops were not allowed to enter the city and several hundreds of Jews were saved. Others had already fled with the help of the documents provided. The organization of the escape assistance was carried out together with the welfare organization DELASEM . Significant contributions were made by Luigi Brizi as typesetter and by Gino Bartali , one of the most successful and popular racing cyclists in Italy, as the bicycle messenger for the documents that had to be brought from the train station to Assisi .
After the war, Father Rufino founded a small settlement for poor Christian and Jewish families in Montenero, a district of the municipality of Todi in the province of Perugia not far from Assisi, and worked as a pastor in his home parish Deruta.
He died of a heart attack and was buried in the family grave.
Quote
“It is far from over. I'm still on the battlefield, yesterday for the persecuted, today for the desperate. That's how I like life. I can't imagine doing this without a fight. I have fought, I fight, and I will always fight because I think that it is our right and our duty to help the oppressed and to defend the ideals of civilization, religion, home. "
Award
In 1974, Yad Vashem recognized Niccacci as one of the first Italians as Righteous Among the Nations . As part of the ceremony, a tree was planted in the Alley of the Righteous in his memory. Bishop Giuseppe Placido Nicolini and his secretary Aldo Brunacci were also recognized as Righteous Among the Nations in 1977. The cyclist Gino Bartali received this honor only posthumously in 2013.
Commemoration
In Deruta , a street has been renamed Via Padre Rufino Niccacci . On April 11, 1983, he was praised by Ronald Reagan in a speech.
The Assisi Underground
The historical events inspired Alexander Ramati to write the novel Assisi Clandestina (1978) and subsequently to the film The Assisi Underground (1985). The role of Father Rufino was played by Ben Cross .
See also
Web links
- Monsignor Giuseppe Placido Nicolini, Father Aldo Brunacci, Father Rufino Niccacci, Luigi Brizi and his son Trento , on the Yad Vashem website
Individual evidence
- ^ Yad Vashem - The Assisi Network
- ^ Margherita Marchione: Yours Is a Precious Witness: Memoirs of Jews and Catholics in Wartime Italy , Paulist Press 1997, ISBN 0-8091-0485-7 , pages 85-86
- ^ Yad Vashem - The Assisi Network
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Niccacci, Rufino |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Niccacci, Salvatore (maiden name); Padre Rufino (religious name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Italian priest of the Roman Catholic Church, Righteous Among the Nations |
| DATE OF BIRTH | March 19, 1911 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Deruta |
| DATE OF DEATH | October 16, 1976 |