Niccacci Rufino

Niccacci, Father Rufino Father Rufino Niccacci (b.1911) a Franciscan priest, helped hide approximately 100 Jews, scattered in monasteries and cloisters around his native town, Assisi. Although he had never met any Jews before the war, his religious piety and humanitarianism prompted him to risk his life in order to save persecuted Jews. He saved Jews by disguising them as monks and nuns and slipping them into every monastery and church in town. At the same time, he made great efforts to supply the Jews in hiding with some of their religious needs, and even arranged classes for their children. Among the Jews he rescued were the Baruch sisters Hella (later Lev) and Mira (later Barsiah), who, until 1942, had lived in Fiume together with their parents, Marco and Hermina, and sister, Lea (later Halevy). They found refuge in the convent of the Stigmata in Assisi, remaining there from the end of 1943 until the liberation of Assisi by the Allies, on June 16, 1944. In the convent, these refugees met other Jews who were hiding there as well. The sisters met Father Niccacci in the convent, as he often came to visit, bringing food and fake papers. Once he helped obtain the release of two Jews, Georgio Kropf and Peli Yusza, from prison. They had been arrested in Perugia by the Fascist militia. Afterward he also arranged a safe place for them to stay. His position as Father Guardian of the Saint Damiano Monastery enabled him to help many other Jewish families. Hanna Hirsch (née Gelb) recalled that Niccacci was instrumental in the salvation of Jews in Assisi. In addition to the approximately 100 Jews mentioned above, Niccacci assisted many other Jews who passed through Assisi by providing them with false documents, which allowed them to escape. After the war, in 1955, the Union of the Jewish Communities in Italy awarded Father Niccacci with a gold medal in appreciation of his deeds on behalf of Jews during the war. Father Niccacci died in 1976. In Alexander Ramati’s book, The Assisi Underground, (1978) cr Father Niccacci is mentioned as the prime force behind this rescue operation. On April 17, 1974, Yad Vashem recognized Father Rufino Niccacci as Righteous Among the Nations.