Certificate of Just

Description

Certificate of Righteous Among the Nations , recognition given to Bartali in 2013 by Yad Vashem , The World Holocaust Remembrance Center, for his work during World War II on behalf of Jews . Bartali in fact had the opportunity to spend the war as a bicycle letter carrier to train . He was contacted by Cardinal Elia Dalla Costa ( also a Righteous Among the Nations ) and the rabbi of Florence Nathan Cassuto , who ran a clandestine network called DELASEM that gave shelter , false documents and passage to all Jews fleeing Italy . Gino would take the false documents to collection points , hiding them inside the frame of his bicycle . When he found a checkpoint he would not let anyone touch his bicycle because it was set up perfectly for him . At first he moved between Florence and Genoa , stopping at the convent of Farneta , until the SS discovered what was happening in the convent and shot 37 people including 10 Carthusians . Bartali then began the route that became famous the one from Florence to Assisi . We do not know how many Jews Bartali helped save but his efforts always remained hidden until the 1990s when his son Andrea leaked it . Bartali always said " If you do someone a favor and then hold it against them , what favor have you done " Bartali was also questioned by Major Charity at Villa Triste in Florence because a letter of thanks addressed to him from the Church had been intercepted . Gino justified himself by saying that he had sent flour and sugar for the needy and since there was no evidence he was released.