Helpers

Luigi Franzin

Luigi and his wife Clorinda were farmers. They had four young children and a fifth daughter on the way. Despite the risk, Luigi decided to aid some escaped Allied PoWs, giving them food and clothes for several months.

In particular, when the New Zealander Arch Scott fell ill, Luigi and his wife treated him at their house, helping him recover. They fed and clothed him and, once he decided to leave, they gave him some money.

Testimonianza di A.Scott ASC, Claim 37.368D

On 4 April 1944, a German SS squad from Trieste, in the area to hunt escaped prisoners, arrested three local men suspected of aiding the escapees, including Luigi. He was the only one not to be released and was deported to Germany in July 1944. His family never heard from him again.

Arch Scott, supporting the award request presented by Clorinda to the Allied Screening Commission, wrote:

He was an excellent chap who did all he could to help us.. He knew where we all were and didn’t hand us over. Even after he was imprisoned he could have obtained his freedom by saying where we were and thus return to his wife and kiddies, Who can understand the spirit that urges these Northen Italians to protect their “enemies” even to sacrificing their wives and children to this end. This is not an isolated case but it is one of the best. Up to the present he has not returned, doubt now whether he will. What will happen to his wife and kiddies? Men such as this deserve recognition.

Only thanks to the Commission’s investigation, it was possible to discover that Luigi was deported at first to Dachau and then to a work camp near Hamburg (Hamburg-Neuengamme, Hausdeich 60), where he died, officially for “cardiac arrest” at 39.

Data

Family or group: Clorinda Tonon (wife)

Date of birth:
16/07/1905
Place:
San Stino di Livenza
Province:
Venezia
Region:
Veneto
Assistance provided:
Shelter, medical care, money
Prisoners helped:
Lance Sergeant Arthur Wallace Scott-New Zealand Infantry Battalion; Sapper Harold E. Martin, and other unidentified escapees
Start date:
September 1943
End date:
4 April 1944 (arrested and deported)
Other helpers involved:
Don Antonio Andreazza (Sant’Anastasio di Cessalto), Famiglia Antonel (aprile ’44 - aprile 45).
Bibliography:
L. Antonel, I silenzi della guerra: prigionieri di guerra alleati e contadini nel Veneto orientale, 1943-1945, Portogruaro, Nuova Dimensione – Ediciclo, 1995. B. G. Lett, Italy’s Outstanding courage. The Story of a Secret Civilian Army in World War Two, Independently published, 2020, pp. 118-120."
Archival sources:
NARA, Records of Allied Operational and Occupation Headquarters, World War II Claim, Series (RG. 331): : Approved Death Claims, Claim n° 37.638D “Clorinda Tonon”.
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The story of Don Giuseppe Beotti

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