Lelio Vittorio Valobra (1900 – 1976 in

Genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...

) was a

Jewish 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 ...

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 ...

lawyer and the chairman of

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 ...

, an exponent of the Jewish resistance. In 1935, Valobra was a leading member of the Jewish community of Genoa, and was the keynote speaker at the new

synagogue A synagogue, also called a shul or a temple, is a place of worship for Jews and Samaritans. It is a place for prayer (the main sanctuary and sometimes smaller chapels) where Jews attend religious services or special ceremonies such as wed ...

in the city, stating: "The pride of being able to raise a temple ... is nourished in us by the political climate in which we live, ... and exaltation of sacrifice, that returned pride unto Italians themselves and the internal order which is essential to becoming a nation."Chiara Bricarelli, Una gioventù offesa: ebrei genovesi ricordano, Editrice La Giuntina, 1995, In October 1938, after the passage of

racial laws Anti-Jewish laws have been a common occurrence throughout the history of antisemitism and Jewish history. Examples of such laws include special Jewish quotas, Jewish taxes and Jewish "disabilities". During the 1930s and early 1940s, some law ...

in Italy and the flight of Jews fleeing after the "annexation" of

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

by the

Third Reich Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a totalitarian dictat ...

, Valobra, on recommendation of the Union of Italian Jewish Communities, of which he was vice-president, was commissioned to organize the relief activities and coordinate the stay of Jewish refugees in Italy.

DELASEM

On December 1, 1939, an organization called

(Delegation for the Assistance of Emigrants), was founded by the Union of Italian Jewish Communities, and Valobra was called to its leadership. The purpose of the association was to help expatriation and survival for Jewish refugees both interned or confined and to those who had avoided internment. Valobra was the protagonist of memorable actions for saving Jewish children: in the spring of 1942 he went to

Ljubljana {{Infobox settlement , name = Ljubljana , official_name = , settlement_type = Capital city , image_skyline = {{multiple image , border = infobox , perrow = 1/2/2/1 , total_widt ...

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

, where he knew there was a group of Eastern European Jewish children who had survived their parents' murder 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 ...

. Valobra picked up 42 children and managed to transport them during March–April 1943 to "Villa Emma" 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 ...

near

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 ...

. At Nonantola they were hidden and protected by local people during the Nazi roundups until Valobra was able to provide for their expatriation to

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

Relations with the Catholic Church

By September 8, 1943, the German occupation had set up the puppet state

Italian Social Republic The Italian Social Republic (, ; RSI; , ), known prior to December 1943 as the National Republican State of Italy (; SNRI), but more popularly known as the Republic of Salò (, ), was a List of World War II puppet states#Germany, German puppe ...

and ordered the specific roundup of Jews. Valobra, helped by

Raffaele Cantoni Raffaele Cantoni (1896–1971) was an anti-fascist Italian Jew who is best known for his efforts, perhaps daring, in saving Italian Jews from the Holocaust.Minerbi, Sergio. ''Raffaele Cantoni, un ebreo anticonformista''. Assisi-Roma: Carucci, 197 ...

and

Massimo Teglio Massimo Teglio (Genoa, 2 August 1900 – Genoa, 31 January 1990) was an Italian aviator responsible for DELASEM for Northern Italy from 1943 to 1945. Biography His father Roberto co-owned with his brothers in Genoa the firm "Fratelli Teglio", now ...

, made contact with Cardinal

Pietro Boetto Pietro Boetto, S.J. (19 May 1871 – 31 January 1946) was an Italian Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church who served as Archbishop of Genoa from 1938 until his death, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1935. He also resisted the Italian f ...

of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

, who headed the diocese of Genoa, and who instructed his secretary Father

Francesco Repetto Monsignor Francesco Repetto (Genoa, 1914–1984) was an Italians, Italian priest and librarian. He is honoured by Jews as a Righteous Among the Nations for his leading role in the clandestine DELASEM organization, which contributed to the saving ...

that the work of DELASEM would continue and would provide material assistance and shelter to persecuted Jews, both Italians and foreigners. In November 1943, after the news about the deportation of Jews from Genoa and the community of Montecatini, Valobra was hidden by the Bishop of

Chiavari Chiavari (; ) is a seaside comune (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Genoa, in Italy. It has about 28,000 inhabitants. It has a beachside promenade and a marina and is situated near the river Entella (river), Entella. History Pre-Rom ...

, and had to flee to Switzerland, where he continued to manage DELASEM until the end of the war.

Acknowledgements

The Valobra name is enshrined in the " Book of the Righteous" (or Golden book) in

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

References

* Ugo G. Pacifici Noja e Silvia Pacifici Noja, Il cacciatore di giusti: storie di non ebrei che salvarono i figli di Israele dalla Shoah, Cantalupa Torinese, Effatà, 2010, {{DEFAULTSORT:Valobra, Lelio Lawyers from Genoa Jews in the Italian resistance 20th-century Italian lawyers 20th-century Italian Jews 1900 births 1976 deaths