Adami Ulisse & Ade (Cardini)

Adami, Ade Adami, Ulisse Cardini, Gino Cardini, Lodovico Cardini, Lydia In Siena, Prof. Lodovico Cardini, and his wife, Lydia, extended help to seven members of the Sadun family: Giacomo; his wife Lina Forti; their son Piero; daughter, Lucia; son, Luigi; Luigi’s wife, Wanda Prato; and their baby, Annalisa. The Cardinis had a son, the pediatrician Dr. Gino Cardini, and a daughter, Ade, married to Dr.Ulisse Adami, a dentist. The Adamis had two daughters, five and three years old. The Adamis were friends of the Sadun family. On October 18, 1943, two days after the roundup of the Jews of Rome for deportation, friends of the Sadun family, on their way to take a train from Rome to Siena, witnessed the sealed trains with the Jews in the Rome railway station. Upon hearing the news, the Adami couple suggested to their Jewish friends that they leave their home immediately and go into hiding. Giacomo was hesitant at first, but then he agreed, and they left home on October 20, 1943. According to the plan, Lina, Lucia, Wanda and the baby found refuge in the Santa Regina nunnery near Siena, and Giacomo, together with his sons, Piero and Luigi, went into hiding at the house of Don Luigi Rosadini* the parish priest of St. Agnes at Vignano. Piero soon joined the Resistance. Soon afterward, however, these places seemed unsafe as the Saduns heard disturbing news about searches conducted by the Germans in various convents in Florence and Rome. The family reunited and found refuge at the home of an elderly lady, Miss Elvira Pannini*. There, too, it was not safe, and they moved on to several abandoned peasants’ houses in the hills of Chianti. It was a cold winter, and the family suffered greatly – so much so that, at last, they decided to accept the offer of the Adamis to accommodate them. In March 1944, the six members of the Sadun family moved to the home of the Adamis and Cardinis in the old center of Siena. Two rooms were placed at their disposal. As they had nofood-ration cards, they also had to be fed by their rescuers. The meager food rations were equally divided among all the occupants of the house. The Saduns were afraid to go out, or even stand near the window, but their hosts were kind and generous, always trying to raise their spirits. Once, baby Annalisa became very ill and undernourished, and was placed in the children’s ward of the Siena hospital. There she was taken care of by Dr. Gino Cardini who worked in that ward. The baby was accepted at the hospital under a false identity, as the niece of the Adamis’ trusted maid. Annalisa returned to her family fully recovered. On July 3, 1944, the Allied army entered Siena, and the city was liberated. The Saduns have never forgotten their protectors, who felt it was their moral obligation to extend help to persecuted people and were thus willing to risk their lives on their behalf. On October 26, 1982, Yad Vashem recognized Lodovico and Lydia Cardini, Gino Cardini and Dr. Ulisse and Ade Adami as Righteous Among the Nations.