Lenti Ida (Brunello)

Lenti, Ida The Hungarians Kalman Toth and Yuzzi (née Galambos) came to Italy in 1930 and were both artists – dancers and musicians. Yuzzi also worked as a translator and gave private lessons in German. In 1940, Kalman returned to Hungary, where he enlisted in the Hungarian army, but after some time he was hospitalized due to health problems. In 1942, the correspondence with him ceased, and from that time no one knew what happened to him. With her husband gone, Yuzzi struggled to earn a living for her three children: Alessandro-Sandro (later Zvi Yanai, former director general of the Ministry of Science and Technology in Israel) was eight years old; his sister, Fiorenza (later Judit Adler) was 13; and Lisetta was 12. In Castiglion Fiorentino (Arezzo) in Tuscany, where they lived, Yuzzi had a helper, a 15-year-old baby-sitter called Ida Brunelli (later Lenti). This girl was considered a member of the family. Ida did not know that the family was Jewish, as they gave no such indication in their lifestyle. The children were aware of the fact that their mother had a brother in Israel, but Ida did not know even that. In 1943, Yuzzi became ill with a heart condition and died of angina pectoris in January 1944. On her deathbed, the mother pleaded with Ida to take care of the orphans. She revealed to her that they were Jewish and gave her a document verifying this. Under the circumstances of the occupation and the persecution of the Jews, in the days to come Ida kept this a secret and did not show the document to anyone. After Yuzzi’s death, young Ida became like a mother to the three children. However, the economic situation was very bad, and Ida could hardly feed them. In desperation, she decided to take them to her mother, Maddalena, who lived in the village of Monselice in Padua province, northern Italy. They were introduced as Hungarian refugees, and no one knew they were Jewish. Nevertheless, there, too, Ida was unable to provide for the children all by herself,so she turned for help to the mayor. To him she disclosed the children’s real identity, and he was prepared to extend his help. The three children were put in various Christian institutions near Padua. Ida acted as the children’s sole guardian; she visited them regularly, and they spent every Sunday with her. Throughout the war period, Ida Brunelli, an inexperienced young girl entrusted with three children, acted with unique maturity. She worked hard on their behalf, keeping in mind their dying mother’s last words. After the war, through the mayor, Ida contacted the Jewish Brigade soldiers who were looking for hidden Jewish orphans throughout Italy. One of the soldiers, Shlomo (Sever) Rovitz, still remembers that day in June 1945, when 18-year-old Ida appeared with three children in the military camp in Santa Colomba, near Siena. She told him that the children were Jewish and described what they had gone through. Rovitz spent some time with the children, verifying Ida’s story. He was extremely impressed with Ida’s courage and dedication. Ida was reluctant to leave the children in the camp with the Jewish soldiers. She wanted to make sure they were safely on board the ship leaving from Naples and for a whole month she wandered with the children from camp to camp until she was certain they were in good hands. In 1950, Ida wrote a letter to the chief rabbi in Rome, telling him her story. The Italian Jewish weekly Israel published an article entitled “A Case of Conscience.” Ida lived very modestly, married late, and did not have any children of her own. On February 24, 1993, Yad Vashem recognized Ida Lenti as Righteous Among the Nations.