Cappello Giovanni & Luigia (Schena)

Cappello, Giovanni Cappello, Luigia As a teenager, Luigia Schena used to work in the D’Angelis’ gift shop in Venice, and they remained friends even after her marriage to Giovanni Cappello, an Electric Company employee. In 1943, she was already a mother of seven children, living in a three-room apartment in the suburbs of Venice. After Italy’s surrender to the Allies and its occupation by the Germans, it was broadcast on the radio that all Jews must report to police headquarters with just a small suitcase. The Cappello’s daughter, Regina, 18, heard this at work, and, when she got home, she heard her parents discussing the announcement. They were worried about their friends, Rino and Ada D’Angeli and their sons Ferruccio and Bruno. Luigia in particular felt that she could not let them report to German headquarters. She and her husband rented a boat and hurried to the D’Angelis’ home and offered them shelter. On December 1, 1943, the D’Angelis accepted the Cappellos’ hospitality. Ada and 12-year-old Bruno moved to one room in the Cappello apartment and Rino went into hiding at a pension run by friends. At first, 17-year-old Ferruccio D’Angeli moved to the home of a friend, but soon joined his mother and brother. At the Cappello residence, Bruno was presented as a member of the family, but Ferruccio and Ada were in hiding. Nevertheless, since the apartment was situated on the first floor, its entrance door and windows facing the street, there was danger of being detected from the outside. Also, as a large family, many friends came by, and it was risky. Therefore, three months after they moved in, the D’Angelis left the Cappellos’ apartment and went to the village of Soligo, in Treviso province. This place had been found by one of the Cappello daughters who had a friend in that village. Giovanni Cappello escorted the family to the village by public transportation. Cappello’s work for the Electric Company enabled him to roam the city without arousing suspicion.The material help and constant encouragement, as well as the news he brought to his friends from the outside world, were vital to their survival. His wife, Luigia, defined their actions in the following words: “Someone had to feel compelled by his conscience to demonstrate that not everybody was degraded to the point of endangering harmless people.” On March 24, 1996, Yad Vashem recognized Giovanni and Luigia Cappello as Righteous Among the Nations.