Corsini Ugo

Corsini, Ugo Gigli, Antonio Guido Spiegel and his wife, Fulvia (née Levi), lived in Trieste with their two children, Dina (b. 1939) and Renato (b. 1941). Both Guido and Fulvia were teachers, but they had lost their jobs in 1938 after racial laws were introduced in Italy forbidding the employment of Jews in any public office. In September 1943, as Germany occupied Italy, the Spiegels decided to leave Trieste, and they found a temporary place to stay in a guesthouse in the town of Bagnacavallo, in the province of Emilia-Romagna. In December 1943 police forces came to arrest the family, but the four managed to escape, with the help of the owners of the guesthouse. Now destitute, Guido and Fulvia tore up their identity papers—which were stamped with the incriminating razza ebraica (Jewish race)—and in their desperation entrusted Dina and Renato to strangers, asking them to take the children to a safe place in an orphanage. With the children gone, the parents made their way to Borgo San Lorenzo. They had run out of options and had nowhere to go. They therefore decided to turn to a local priest and present themselves as refugees. They were welcomed by Don Ugo Corsini, and Guido, encouraged by the priest’s kindly attitude toward them, confessed that he and his wife were Jewish. “Oh, you poor children,” was the priest’s reaction. Both were taken in by the priest and stayed with him for several days in hiding. Don Corsini got in touch with Antonio Gigli, who worked as a clerk for the town council and was also active in the underground. He managed to arrange fake identity papers for the Spiegels, which enabled them to leave their hiding place. As soon as he could, Guido went to retrieve his children. After several days he managed to find the two, who had been placed in separate orphanages, and return with them to Borgo San Lorenzo. The Spiegels put their trust in Don Corsini, and he did not let them down. He remained concerned for their safety, even though they could now go out freely using their fake identities; yet he still advised them to show up in church every now and again, so as not to arouse suspicion. But the challenges of living under an assumed identity were immense, and the parents were afraid that Dina might accidently reveal their Jewish identity. By then the Germans had a heavy presence in the area, and the Spiegels no longer felt safe. Eventually they decided to leave for Florence, where they stayed in hiding until the liberation. After the war they returned to Trieste, only to discover that many members of their family had perished in Auschwitz. Throughout the years, the Spiegels remained in contact with their rescuers. “A noble figure,” wrote Guido Spiegel in 1980 in honor of Don Corsini, “a man with great faith, an open mind, and a generous heart.” On February 17, 2013, Yad Vashem recognized Don Ugo Corsini and Antonio Gigli as Righteous Among the Nations.