Place:

Piove di Sacco

Province:

Padova

Region:

Veneto

Assistance provided:

Shelter, money, help with thransfer towards Switzerland

Prisoners helped:

Jack Le Roux-South African

Start date:

September 1943

End date:

March 1944 (arrested)

Description:

Immediately after the armistice, the woman, who ran a liquor shop with her husband, set up a small local organisation dedicated to assisting Allied prisoners, providing them with shelter, clothing, and money. She also hosted two soldiers in her home for several months. Together with South African soldier Le Roux, she helped transfer Allied soldiers to Switzerland, supplying them with bicycles and money. In March 1944, following a tip-off, she was arrested along with her husband and daughter. Her home was completely looted. After several months in prison in Venice, during which she was frequently tortured in an attempt to make her talk, she was deported to Mauthausen, and later to Ravensbrück. She returned home in October 1945.

Bibliography:

B.G. Lett, Italy’s Outstanding courage. The Story of a Secret Civilian Army in World War Two, Independently published , 2020.

Archival sources:

NARA, Records of Allied Operational and Occupation Headquarters, World War II Claim, Series (RG. 331), Claim n° 54.436