Brutti Giuseppe & Elvira (Lucci)

Brutti, Giuseppe Brutti, Elvira Giuseppe Brutti, a stationmaster since 1939, lived with his wife Elvira and their children Mario, Giancarlo, and Maria Luisa (Marisa) married to Ferdinando Farina, above the stationhouse in Amandola, (Ascoli Piceno province). The young generation was in its 20s. In November 1941, the related Almuli and Eskenazi families fled from Belgrade. They consisted of the elderly Rejna Davico Almuli and her daughters Lea and Reli Benarojo, the latter with her daughters Ena and Alisa, aged six and eight, Rejna’s son-in-law, Dr. Isak Eskenazi, with his wife Ela and daughter Vera. After a perilously long journey they arrived in Italy, were arrested and held in the village of Cison di Valmarino (Treviso province), in confino libero, meaning that they had to live in the village under supervision and other restrictions. With the German invasion in September 1943, the family moved southward in the direction of the Allied Forces. After a few days, they arrived exhausted at the train station of Amandola, where they spent the night. Their misery was so obvious, that Giuseppe noticed them and invited them to dinner. After the eight refugees had eaten, he gave them cots, mattresses and blankets for them to sleep. The next morning, the Almuli-Eskenazi family hesitated whether to continue their journey south. Brutti arranged a meeting with some of the town’s trusted people: Monsignor Eugenio Verdini and Dr. Cesare Appolloni, a surgeon at the local hospital. The problem of the Jewish family was discussed, including their meager financial resources. At last, a decision was reached that the family was to remain in Amandola. Brutti, Verdini and Appolloni quickly arranged for housing and they also organized a committee of the town’s people that provided the family with food and basic needs, such as beds, clothes, dishes, etc. All the generous people involved in helping these refugees were risking their lives because in case of disclosure, the Germans wouldnot have spared them. No material compensation was ever requested. The Bruttis stood out among all the numerous people who extended help to the Almuli-Askenazi family. Their efforts galvanized the efforts of all the others. Once, a collaborator, a cobbler from Genoa denounced the Jewish family to the Germans, but before they were caught, Giuseppe Brutti speedily organized their safe escape to San Cristoforo, a small village in the adjoining hills. They were helped there by the local priest, Don Quinto Roscioli, and remained in that village until the liberation of the area in June 1944. The survivors never forgot their rescuers who helped them consistently for nine months out of pure humanitarian and religious principles. They became the Bruttis’ extended family. On April 13, 2004, Yad Vashem recognized Giuseppe and Elvira Brutti as Righteous Amon the Nations.