Arrigo Beccari
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Don Arrigo Beccari (24 August 1909 – 27 December 2005), was an
Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...
priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in parti ...
and
teacher A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. w ...
. He was recognized as a
Righteous Among the Nations Righteous Among the Nations ( ) is a title used by Yad Vashem to describe people who, for various reasons, made an effort to assist victims, mostly Jews, who were being persecuted and exterminated by Nazi Germany, Fascist Romania, Fascist Italy, ...
for his rescue operation. During
WWII World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
he rescued about 120
Jews Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...
, most of them children from Villa Emma along with the town’s doctor Giuseppe Moreali.


Early life

Don Arrigo Beccari was born in 1909 in Castelnuovo Rangone, Italy. He died in 2005 in
Nonantola Nonantola ( Modenese: ) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Modena in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy. It is in the Po Valley about from Modena on the road to Ferrara. History In ancient times the territory of Nonantola was in ...
, Italy. In 1933 he was authorized as a priest and became a teacher in Nonantola’s
Catholic seminary This is a list of Catholic seminaries in the world, including those that have been closed. According to the 2012 Pontifical Yearbook, the total number of candidates for the priesthood in the world was 118,990 at the end of the year 2010. These ...
, which was located close to the town, in
Modena Modena (, ; ; ; ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) on the south side of the Po Valley, in the Province of Modena, in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy. It has 184,739 inhabitants as of 2025. A town, and seat of an archbis ...
. Beccari held an
anti-fascist Anti-fascism is a political movement in opposition to fascist ideologies, groups and individuals. Beginning in European countries in the 1920s, it was at its most significant shortly before and during World War II, where the Axis powers were op ...
,
Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...
perspective, which also motivated him.  Between the years 1939 and 1980 he served as a community priest at St Peter’s church in Rubbiara, near Nonantola, and then in Nonantola itself.


Activity during WWII

Beccari’s activity during WWII took place mostly in Nonantola which is a northern Italian town in which “Villa Emma” was located.  The Villa Emma used to be a home for Jewish orphan children. Since they arrived at the town, Beccari developed a strong relationship with them. The village’s occupation by the
Nazis Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...
in September 1943 caused Beccari and Joseph Ithai (a children’s guide) to be aware of the danger of keeping the Jewish children in Villa Emma. Arrigo Beccari persuaded the farmers to host the older children. The youngsters he hid in his seminary. During this period he protected and supplied their essential needs in addition to keeping the children in high spirits. Once the Nazis conducted a search and enquiry about the missing children Beccari decided to keep his silence, consequently they beat him. Due to this incident and increased searches after the hiding of Jews, Don Arrigo Beccari and Giuseppe Moreali decided to smuggle the Jews outside of the German occupation. Beccari and Moreali started to design a fleeing plan. The idea was to transfer the children to the Swiss border and then northward. Moreali issued 120 Jews fake identity cards and Beccari found people who would help the group on their way to the border. The children and the guides made their voyage by trains and on the evening of Yom Kippur 1943 they crossed the border. After the success of the smuggling Beccari continued helping people. There was a stock that contained medicine and clothes, which was used by Beccari for Jewish refugees, for escaped prisoners (British soldiers) and for Italian partisans. In 1944, Don Arrigo Beccari’s underground activity was exposed. He was arrested by Italian fascists, and they were delivered to the Nazis. In the Bologna jail Beccari underwent severe torture by the S.S for many months until his release. His name appeared on the execution list 3 times, but he kept quiet and didn't say a thing.


Honors

* Knight of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic (1961). * Righteous Among the Nations (1964). * In 1964 a tree was planted by Don Arrigo Beccari in his honor boulevard at Yad Vashem. * Prelate of honor of His Holiness (1989).  * In 2016 Beccari was perpetuated with the rest of the Righteous Among the Nations of Nonantola, in a garden at Calvisano. * A playground called “Nonantola” was established in Haifa, Israel to the memory of Beccari and Moreali.


See also

* Villa Emma (Nonantola) *
Joseph Ithai Joseph is a common male name, derived from the Hebrew (). "Joseph" is used, along with " Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the modern-day Nordic count ...
* Giuseppe Moreali *
The Holocaust in Italy The Holocaust saw the persecution, deportation, and murder of Jews between 1943 and 1945 in the Italian Social Republic, the part of the Kingdom of Italy occupied by Nazi Germany after the Italian surrender on 8 September 1943, during World War ...
*
DELASEM Delegation for the Assistance of Jewish Emigrants (Delegazione per l'Assistenza degli Emigranti Ebrei) or DELASEM, was an Italian and Jewish resistance organization that worked in Italy between 1939 and 1947. It is estimated that during World War I ...
*
Knight of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic The Order of Merit of the Italian Republic () is the most senior Italian order of merit. It was established in 1951 by the second President of the Italian Republic, Luigi Einaudi. The highest-ranking honour of the Republic, it is awarded for ...
*
Prelate of honor of His Holiness A Prelate of Honour of His Holiness is a Catholic prelate to whom the Pope has granted this title of honour. They are addressed as Monsignor (typically abbreviated 'Mgr') and have certain privileges as regards clerical clothing.


External links


Righteous Among the Nations

Testimony of rescuing Jews


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Beccari, Arrigo Italian Righteous Among the Nations 1909 births 2005 deaths 20th-century Italian Roman Catholic priests Religious leaders from the Province of Modena Catholic Righteous Among the Nations