Don Giuseppe Beotti

Don Giuseppe Beotti, 31, was the parish priest of Sidolo, a tiny hamlet in the mountains near the town of Bardi. Immediately after the Armistice, he stood out for his activities in helping anyone in need (Jews, escaped PoWs, the wounded).

Among the first escaped prisoners to reach the area was Captain Ballantyne, who had probably escaped from PG 49, Fontanellato, after 8 September 1943. Don Giuseppe welcomed him into his rectory and provided him with food, clothing and some money. In November, Ballantyne left to reach the frontline; however, he failed to do so and returned to Sidolo with two other escapees (Houghton and Lewis Heat). The three decided to wait there for winter to pass.  Don Giuseppe looked after them, entrusting the three to a local woodcutter, Bartolomeo Vaccari, who helped them build a hut to survive the cold winter months.

In his report for the Allied Commission, Ballantyne wrote:

«Don Giuseppe assisted us with food and other necessaries and organised food supplies from several of his parishioners. When Captain Houghton fell ill, Don Giuseppe obtained medicines and medical help for him. The risks were very active in the area at this time, and informing was rife, because of the rewards the German-Fascists were offering for information leading to the recapture of escaped prisoners.»

In the Spring of 1944, Ballantyne joined a group of partisans.
In June 1944, Colonel De Bruyne arrived in the area and was sent to Don Beotti.

«I heard much of the good work of Don Beotti in helping us. In spite of his extreme poverty for which I can vouch, he was unstinting in providing clothes and food for those who needed it. I heard he gave his best boots, exchanging them for the dilapidated pair worn by a prisoner of war.»

Between 10 and 11 July 1944, in Pelosa, near Bedonia, 70 German soldiers were killed during a clash with the partisans. As a reprisal, the Germans destroyed the hamlets and villages and ransacked the area. Between 19 and 20 July, the Germans reached Sidolo. De Bruyne, still there like many other escapees, left the hamlet and hid in the mountains. Don Giuseppe, instead, decided to stay, despite being advised to leave. «It would be in keeping with the fine character of this brave and gentle priest to choose to stay behind in the hope of saving his village, and offering his life if necessary to achieve this.» Apparently, he had placed a white flag on top of the church belfry to tell the Germans the village had surrendered and no partisans were there. However, the signal was not understood by the enemy, who instead thought of it as a sign of defiance.

Don Beotti spent the night praying with Italo Subacchi, a seminarian, and the parish priest of Parcigatone, Don Francesco Delnevo, who had taken refuge in the rectory. The three were executed by firing squad. Ballantyne reported that the priest was shot in front of his church, accused of being «a rebel, friend of the English».

After the war, a few prisoners, in memory of Don Giuseppe’s help, wrote to the Allied Commission to request a form of compensation for the priest’s family, which was extremely impoverished. De Bruyne too testified for it:

«The mother and sister of Don Beotti, who were entirely depending on him, are destitute and without means. May some assistance be afforded to them by AMG or Allied Screening Commission? I feel a very strong personal responsibility in this case, as I am satisfied that I owe the fact that I am not recaptured or killed in no small measure to this man and that he met his death also entirely because of the assistance he afforded me and other British Officers.»

In 2023, Don Giuseppe was declared blessed by the Catholic Church