Annoni Fosco ; Sister: Tina

Annoni, Fosco Annoni, Tina Klara Silverman (later Rosenfeld) was born in Lwow, (then Poland) in 1924, the youngest of seven children. Following the German occupation of the city, she found work, together with her sister, Cilli, as a cleaner at the headquarters of the Italians in Lwow, in the Palace of Sheptytski. When there were anti-Jewish Aktionen in Lwow, the Italians did not allow Klara to return to her home, and she stayed over at work. During the roundup of the Jews in town, at the beginning of 1943, Klara remained alone, separated from her family. She decided to go to the Palace, where eight soldiers there took pity on her, among them, Fosco Annoni. At first she was hidden in the attic and then in a storeroom in their camp for five days. They brought her food and an army coat and cap to keep her warm. When the order came for the Italians to return to Italy, the soldiers who were protecting her held a meeting, and decided to take her with them to Italy. According to the plan, she was dressed as a soldier and smuggled out in a truck straight to the railway station. There the soldiers, including Fosco, arranged a small hiding place for her in the luggage section of the train. Fosco Annoni gave her his home address in Parma.Three days later the train reached Udine, Italy. However, at the station Klara was suspected of being a spy and arrested. Her cover story was that she had fallen in love with an Italian soldier and that she was trying to locate him. Her story was apparently accepted but to make sure that she was not infected with any disease she was sent to quarantine in a hospital run by nuns. After 15 days she was transferred to a convent. In the meantime, Fosco Annoni, who had seen her arrest, did not know what had happened to her. When he got home, he asked his sister, Tina, to try to find her. Tina agreed and embarked upon a four-hour train trip in order to make inquires about Klara. Finally she located her and invited her to come to the Annonihome. However, when Klara came to Parma, Fosco was not there. Nevertheless, Klara felt welcome, since his two sisters, Tina and Livia, were very kind to her. There was also an older brother, Vittorio, about 30 years old. It was a poor family – one sister was a seamstress, the other a clerk – but they were warm people. The sisters contacted a local priest who arranged for Klara to be admitted into a convent in Traversetolo. She was known there as Klara Morselli and remained for two and a half years, until the liberation of the area in May 1945. Then she returned to the Annonis, and they helped her meet a rabbi who was looking for survivors. In 1946, Klara left for Israel, reuniting with her brother Hayim who survived too. On March 18, 1993, Yad Vashem recognized Fosco Annoni and his sister, Tina, as Righteous Among the Nations.