Bolledi Anna

Bolledi, Anna (Mother Emerenzia) Corsetti, Maria (Mother Ferdinanda) After the occupation of Rome by the Germans in September 1943, and the action against the Jews of Rome on October 16, 1943, known as the “Black Sabbath,” there was a rumor in Jewish circles that the S. Giuseppe (di Chambery) convent located on via del Casaletto, which ran a girls’ school, had opened its gates to Jewish girls. In those days, more than 30 Jewish girls were admitted, along with several boys. The person responsible for this was Mother Superior Emerenzia (Anna Bolledi), and the school’s headmistress, Mother Ferdinanda (Maria Corsetti). Whereas the girls were put up in a large hall, the boys and several adults, all Jewish, were hidden in a building located in the courtyard of the convent. The women were dressed as nuns and the girls assume the names of the students from southern Italy, who, after the Allied occupation of that region, were unable to return to Rome. Ration cards were arranged for them as well. Although outwardly they all had to lead their lives as Catholics, in fact, they were permitted to live according to their true faith. They even celebrated Jewish festivals, such as Purim and Passover in 1944. Despite the meager quantities of food at the convent’s disposal, the nuns tried very hard to feed the girls properly and never served them pork or other non-kosher food. They managed to obtain cheese and jam instead. The nuns were fully aware of the risks they were taking by harboring Jewish girls under their roof. Yet they were determined to save the girls from deportation and therefore went out of their way to assist them and encourage them. It was especially dangerous to harbor Jews in the convent, because a German camp was located nearby (the barracks were by the kitchen garden) and a Fascist police barrier was set up there as well. The Jews remained there until June 1944. Lia Levi (12 at the time), who was saved in the convent together with her two sisters (aged tenand six), recalled the nobility of the nuns, their warmth and goodwill. According to her, the main heroines of this rescue episode were Mother Emerenzia and Mother Ferdinanda. They were responsible and devout, and they would have suffered the most in case of denunciation. Among the rescued Jews in the convent were also Roberto Calderoni, his brothers and sisters, as well as their parents. Emma Torre Pugliese and her two daughters, Giuliana and Paola (aged 19 and 13) were also sheltered there. Marta Ravenna was six years old in 1943. She was admitted to the convent together with her cousin at the end of September 1943. On October 16, 1943, her family – her parents, an aunt, and a grandmother – joined her there. A few days after the armistice in September 1943, her mother, Elena, together with Lia Levi’s mother, Leontina (née Segre), got in touch with the sisters of S. Giuseppe convent, and were assured that the children were welcomed in the Catholic institution. Elena Ravenna, as headmistress of the Jewish school Vittorio Polacco, came to an agreement with the convent that it would take over the administration of the school. Nuns were brought from a convent outside Rome to run it and Jewish children found refuge behind its walls. The rescue story was told in Lia Levi’s book Una bambina e basta (1994). On August 4, 1997, Yad Vashem recognized Mother Emerenzia (Anna Bolledi) and Mother Ferdinanda (Maria Corsetti) as Righteous Among the Nations.