Brunacci Aldo

Brunacci, Father Aldo A rescue operation was conducted in Assisi by three major personalities: Monsignor Giuseppe Nicolini*, the bishop of Assisi, the Franciscan Father Aldo Brunacci, head of the Committee for Assistance and a canon in the Cathedral of San Rufino, and Father Rufino Nicacci*, the Franciscan priest who was Father Guardian of San Damiano convent. Assisi was filled with refugees who fled the bombardments in the cities, among them several Jewish Italian families, including, Viterbi, Baruch, Gelb, Kropf, Fano, Provenzal, Corinaldi, Angeli and Rieti, as well as foreign Jews. They were dressed as monks, while they waited for false documents, and the women were instructed to behave as pious Christians. One of the survivors, Lea Halevy (née Baruch) of Fiume (today Rjeka), arrived in Assisi from Trieste, in December 1943, together with her parents, Marco and Hermina Baruch, and her sisters Mira and Hella. They all found refuge at the monastery of Santa Croce and later in another convent. They receivedt false papers with the name Bartoli and they were registered as refugees from southern Italy. Mira Baruch was often invited to Brunacci’s huge library, where he also taught her Latin, enabling her to resume her studies after the war with no difficulty. Father Brunacci was arrested by order of the governor of Perugia, Rocchi, who suspected him of being involved in the rescue activities. On May 15, 1944, policemen arrested him at his home. At that time, Prof. Viterbi of Padua was hiding there together with his two daughters, and they were not discovered. Brunacci was released through intervention of the Bishop of Assisi, but he was forced to leave Assisi. On June 16, 1944, Assisi was liberated. On December 6, 1977, Yad Vashem recognized Father Aldo Brunacci as Righteous Among the Nations.