My Italian Secret: The Forgotten Heroes (2014)

My Italian Secret: The Forgotten Heroes: Directed by Oren Jacoby. With Andrea Bartali, Suor Benedetta, Pietro Borromeo, Giorgio Goldenberg. MY ITALIAN SECRET tells a heroic story that was all but lost to history, until now. The film recounts how WWII bicycling idol Gino Bartali, physician Giovanni Borromeo and other Italians worked with Jewish leaders and high-ranking officials of the Catholic Church, risking their lives by defying the Nazis to save thousands of Italy’s Jews.

“I was looking for Italian films and came across a documentary entitled My Italian Secret. It is about Italian Jews and Italian refugees from other parts of Europe, from the time of Mussolini through German occupation and Allied liberation. They interview elderly people who return to the small Italian villages to thank the families of those who helped save them. I found it fascinating because I didnu0026#39;t know to what extent common Italians risked their lives for strangers of another faith. You always hear jokes about the Italians surrendering, the inference being they were cowards…but it seems that many Italians risked their lives, and many were captured, tortured and killed for hiding Jewish families. So their strength lies in the fact that they give no glory to giving their lives for a political cause they donu0026#39;t believe in, but they took dangerous gambles to help human beings in need. A good lesson for current times. This was a very informative documentary. u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eSent from my iPad”