Girotti Giuseppe

Girotti, Father Giuseppe Father Giuseppe Girotti, born in Alba (Cuneo), in 1905, was a renowned professor of theology, and graduate of the Ecole Biblique in Jerusalem. He taught in the Dominican Theological Seminary of Turin, S. Maria delle Rose and among his publications are commentaries to Isaiah and Ecclesiastes. After September 8, 1943, he dedicated his efforts to the rescue of many Jews in Turin. Risking his life, Girotti acted according to his values and religious beliefs, arranging safe hideouts and organizing escape routes from the country. Emma De Benedetti (later Weil) knew Father Girotti before the war. Her parents lived near him in Alba. During the war, he helped Emma and her mother find refuge in a convent in Turin; they stayed there for several months. He also provided a false identity card for Emma’s father. Emma saved a postcard from her mother dated May 15, 1944, in which she wrote that she was hiding in a convent under the protection of Father Girotti. According to Emma, thanks to his connections, in several instances Girotti was able to warn Jews in time so that they were able to run away. There were others, too, who were helped in the same way, among them Salvatore Fubini, a lawyer from Turin. One day, following a denunciation, Father Girotti was caught in the middle of transferring a wounded Jewish partisan to the house of Prof. Diena. He was arrested on August 29, 1944, and imprisoned in Turin in Le Nuove. He was transferred to San Vittore in Milan, then to Bolzano camp, and finally to Dachau, where he was murdered on Easter Day, April 1, 1945. A biography about him was written by Valerio Morello, Morire Per I “Fratelli Maggiori” (1988). On February 14, 1995, Yad Vashem recognized Father Giuseppe Girotti as Righteous Among the Nations.