Andrea Baruffini

From 11 September 1943 onwards, as more than 700 Allied prisoners escaped from PG 49 Fontanellato, the Baruffini family housed four escapees in their home. Andrea, the head of the family, was a farmer and had fought in the First World War. As soon as he learned that there were some Englishmen in need, he stepped in to help, as they were young boys just as he had been during the previous war.

The escapees stayed at his home until 9 October, when the Germans started combing through the area. Andrea moved them to another place, a farmhouse in Banzola, near Salsomaggiore. They were fed thanks to the supplies that Albertina, Andrea’s 20-year-old daughter, brought them twice a week, along with some news on the situation. 

After 10 November, Capt. Greenwood, who had previously left the hideout, returned to the Baruffini’s home, keeping in contact with the other escapees, who had meanwhile moved to Parma. In January, however, the group split: two PoWs decided to leave the area to reach Switzerland, while the rest stayed. 

On 31 January 1945, Capt. Beazley, a member of the Parma group, was arrested at Volumnia Ugolotti’s home. She was a nurse who had sheltered the escapees. During the search of her flat, the enemy discovered a diary in which the officer had recorded all his movements and the assistance he had received. Among the names was that of Andrea Baruffini. 

During her testimony at the Allied Commission, Luigia, Andrea’s wife, reported: «On 11 March, 70 people were arrested, including my husband and daughter. She was released five days later. My husband was taken to San Francesco prison, mistreated and threatened by the Germans, kept away from his family.» As his sons Fortunato and Sandro recalled, Andrea did not escape the prison when a bomb (presumably from an Allied air raid) opened a breach in the walls, fearing the Nazi-Fascists would punish his family as a reprisal.

Andrea was transferred to the Fossoli camp and, in July, left for Bolzano and then Mauthausen, where he arrived on 24 June 1944. After going through the sub-camps of Grossraming and Schlier-Redl-Zipf, he died after months of suffering on 11 April 1945. «Our sorrow for his departure is impossible to describe,» his wife declared. «I am alone with four young children. I did my best to continue working the farm he had rented, without any help.»

Three out of the four escapees who the Baruffini helped managed to reach Switzerland. Capt. Ledgard later wrote:

I should like to stress that this man and his whole family did everything in their power to assist us, without thought to themselves and at considerable risk

In Fontanellato, a pietra d’inciampo (stolperstein) was laid in honour of Andrea on 23 January 2021.