On This Day in History: July 7

Gino Bartali saves Jews from Holocaust

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There were twelve popes named Pius, which means pious, which means “devout” or “dutiful.” But across the centuries plenty of popes and many Catholics in general weren’t that dutiful to Jews in terms of seeing them as human beings worthy of saving. Devout Catholic and champion cyclist Gino Bartali, however, earned the nickname Gino the Pious because of how he dutifully risked his life to save Jews from the fucking Nazis during World War II. 

--On This Day in History, Shit Went Down: July 7, 2013--

Born in 1914, Bartali would win the Giro d’Italia three times and the Tour de France twice. Italians considered him a national hero for his cycling accomplishments, but knew nothing of his wartime heroics until recently. Italy was on the side of the fucking Nazis during WWII, and Gino was all I don’t fucking think so. While the Catholic Church was at odds with the Nazis, it didn’t stop some from collaborating, including helping Nazis escape punishment after the war. 

But Gino was the fuck Nazis kind of Catholic. With the help of his cousin Armandino, Gino hid a Jewish family of four in his cellar during the war. Giorgio Goldenberg, who survived the war as a boy hiding under Bartali’s house, said many years later, “One thing I know for certain is that they saved our lives.” That’s not all he did. Gino became a message runner for the Italian resistance, and he had the perfect alibi: his bicycle. 

He was always training on his bicycle, riding across the Italian countryside. What the bad guys didn’t know was that he had secret messages hidden away in the frame of his bicycle for the resistance. The Italian fascist police and the occupying Germans wouldn’t risk aggravating the Italian populace by stopping and searching their national hero. Gino also used his fame to get inside knowledge of raids on safehouses where Jews were being hidden so he could warn them in advance. 

One of the things the Italian resistance was known for was helping Jewish people escape deportation and death. Having forged documents proclaiming you were not Jewish was critical. Many Jews were hiding in Franciscan convents and Gino would visit the convents to pick up their photos then transport them to those creating the documents, then return with the false papers. The intelligence wing of the SS (fucking Nazis) became suspicious of Bartali and brought Gino into their torture house for some questioning, but he was all I don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about I’m just riding my bike. They let him go. 

Gino Bartali never talked about what he’d done after the war, and so it was all but unknown for many years. Gino lived to be 85, dying in 2000. Thirteen years later, on July 7, 2013, Yad Vashem, which is the World Holocaust Remembrance Center, recognized Bartali as Righteous Among the Nations. It is how they honor those who risked their lives to save Jews during the Holocaust. 

Bartali’s opinion on his heroics, shared with one of his children many years later, was, “One does these things and then that’s that.” 

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