Bertone Antonio

Bertone, Antonio Colonel Antonio Bertone, b.1905, in Saluzzo, served in the Italian Army as head of the division in the Italian occupied zone of Yugoslavia from May 1941 to September 1943. During that period, a Jewish family, the Goldners, lodged him in Ogulin since officers were accommodated in Jewish homes when there was no other lodging available. In July 17, 1941, Salvatore Conforty, b.1906, with his wife Olga (née Hamburger), b.1916, fled from Zagreb to the smaller town of Ogulin, due to the racial laws issued by the new Ustaša fascist regime in Croatia under Ante Pavelić. They found refuge at the home of Hugo Goldner, his brother-in-law. Antonio Bertone, who heard about the Confortys’ tragic situation, offered them help in crossing the border into Italy. He accompanied them on August 5, 1941, by train to Fiume (today Rijeka, Croatia) protecting them during the voyage when an inspection was conducted by the Fascist Ustaša and Italian guards. Upon arriving in Fiume, Antonio arranged Italian papers through Giovanni Palatucci*. While there, Antonio also arranged with great effort to have most of the family’s belongings, in the hands of Gentile friends in Zagreb, Ljubljana and Ogulin brought to them. In June 1942, Antonio Bertone also managed to bring Olga’s parents, Lawoslawo and Wilma (née Kerschner) Hamburger over from Ogulin. He personally went to fetch them. Meeting them at the Ogulin train station, he arranged for them to hide in one of the cabins that was guarded from the outside by two trusted soldiers. During those years in hiding, the Conforty family grew with the birth of Renata in Fiume, on August 15, 1942. Soon after, when the Confortys felt insecure, they were urged to leave Fiume and began wandering in the area of Modena province – Mirandola, Sestola, Zocca. Antonio Bertone was in touch with them continuously, sending them food and money and helping them in their contacts with the authorities. Their general situation changed for the worst afterItaly’s surrender to the Allies on September 8, 1943, and Germany’s occupation of the north. With the imminent threat of being deported to death camps, the family went into hiding in Rimini for three months. During that time, Antonio Bertone was also hiding, in Cuneo, to avoid enlistment into the Italian Social Republic’s army. Even then, despite the risks, he came to visit them. In the middle of November 1943, he was summoned again to the army and this time he enlisted but was always suspected of helping Jews and resistance forces. When Rimini was heavily bombed by the Allies, Antonio managed to transfer the Jews under his protection to Bassano del Grappa, near Asolo, where he was stationed. He protected them there until July 1944. Finally, when it was too risky there, he took them to Valenza Po where they again lived under Antonio’s protection until the Liberation. Their second daughter, Dina, was born there on February 1st, 1944. After the war, Colonel Antonio Bertone was tried in court, accused of collaboration with the Fascists and the Germans. There, Salvatore Conforty testified on his behalf, emphasizing the enormous risks he had taken to save his family and also other Jewish families. Colonel Bertone was acquitted and went on to practice law in Cuneo, where he passed away in 2000. On September 7, 2005, Yad Vashem recognized Antonio Bertone as Righteous Among the Nations.