The Tour de France Winner Who Used His Bicycle to Help Save Hundreds of Jews During WWII

01 Jun 23 141 0 0

The Tour de France Winner Who Used His Bicycle to Help Save Hundreds of Jews During WWII

Cool Story - The Tour de France Winner Who Used His Bicycle to Help Save Hundreds of Jews During WWII

Gino Bartali, one of the most well-known athletes in Europe, won the Tour de France in 1938. It ought to have been a victory for him as well as for Benito Mussolini's fascist government. Il Duce, who is reported to have declared his ambition to transform Italy from a nation of mandolin players into one of the warriors, placed a great deal of importance on sports. The propaganda apparatus portrayed Mussolini as a talented athlete. He promoted involvement in all forms of athletics and closely oversaw schoolchildren's physical fitness. Mussolini now yearned fervently for victory at the Tour de France, the sport's most prestigious competition, in cycling-obsessed Italy.

As Bartali blasted through the challenging peaks in the Alps and the Pyrenees, Italian supporters traveled to France to support their countrymen. He finished the race on July 31 wearing the coveted leader's yellow jersey. According to the Gazzetta dello Sport, "the ovations were not exclusively intended at the triumphant one of the Tour de France" in Paris. They were praising a representative of our race's moral character and athletic prowess.

However, Bartali did not dedicate his triumph to Il Duce as other Italian champions did. He was largely apolitical, a devoted Catholic, and devoted to the church. Bartali did not wish to position himself as an Aryan savior and condemned fascist ideology.

One of his teammates observed, "They always attempted to show off what he performed as proof of what fascism could do." Bartali, however, refused to cooperate. Mussolini's secret police claimed that instead of praising the regime on Italian radio, he "mumbled." He only thanked his supporters on French radio. The following day, Bartali attended mass at Notre-Dame-des-Victoires while being followed by the media and lay his victory wreath at the feet of the Madonna.

“Mussolini was not blind to the disrespect. A reporter was dispatched by a French cycling publication to document what was expected to be a joyous return. At the train station, there was no cat. not a formal reception. Nothing. I don't get it," the journalist penned.

An Italian wins the Tour de France, a remarkable international victory, and his fellow countrymen—Latinos predisposed to exuberant joy—don't respond at all? There is an issue. Mussolini canceled a special medal presentation, and Bartali's victory lap at the Turin velodrome was missed by the president of the Italian Cycling Federation. The official press office, Ufficio Stampa, issued the following directive: "The newspapers should cover Bartali strictly as a sportsman."

The first formal legal discrimination against Italian Jews appeared during the 1938 Tour. Hitler had paid a lavish visit to Mussolini in May when on a quick tour of Italy. Il Duce stated that their friendship will continue after the Spanish Civil War, even though the tyrants had not always been partners. Andrea, the son Bartali confided in, recalled his father's desire to visit Nicolini at San Damiano or return to Assisi to see the Giotto frescoes. Bartali eventually opened up about his work during the war when traveling for extended periods with his kid in places like Italy, Germany, the US, Canada, and other countries after being questioned repeatedly. However, he informed Andrea that he could not tell anyone. He assured him, "When the time comes to discuss these topics, you will comprehend it on your own."

Andrea decided the time was ripe in 2004 when a young rider named Paolo Alberati completed his thesis on Bartali's exploits. He released a book on his father in 2006. The Italian Republic's president gave Bartali the Civilian Gold Medal that year on Liberation Day in April in recognition of his deeds. In 2013, Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Memorial in Jerusalem, recognized Gino Bartali among other members of the Assisi underground, including Niccacci and Dalla Costa, as a Righteous Among the Nations. The opening three stages of the Giro d'Italia were hosted in the Holy Land in 2018, the first time they had ever been held outside of Europe, as a special tribute to Bartali.

It will never be known exactly how many people Gino Bartali saved from certain death, but it is very certainly over a hundred. Giorgio Goldenberg, the young child who hid in his cellar during the war, later relocated to Israel, and eventually became a grandpa, was one that he unquestionably saved. Goldenberg recalled, "Gino Bartali saved my life and the lives of my family." A hero, he is. On his deathbed, Andrea was called to Rome by Bartali's friend, the Vatican bookseller Bartolo Paschetta, who told him, "You had a great father. You have no way of knowing how many lives he and I saved. Bartali's acts of valor were personal and closely related to his faith. He explained to his youngster, " If you're good at a sport, they pin the medals to your clothes and then they shine at some museum.

But he thought nice deeds were of a different kind. The Heavenly Kingdom, not this world, will recognize these medals that are attached to the soul.

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