29/01/2021
International Holocaust Remembrance Day: the history of Giuseppe Jona, the greatest hero ever had
Born in a Jewish Venetian family the 28th of October 1866, Giuseppe graduated with full marks in Medicine at the prestigious Padova University in 1892.
His career as a brilliant doctor immediately took off and soon Giuseppe became Head of his department at the Venice Civil Hospital.
His dedication to medicine and to others did not go unnoticed:
In 1917, his crucial help in military hospitals during World War I brought the Italian State to reward him for his work, defining him an "enthusiastic patriot of unwavering faith"
In 1921, He was nominated President of the prestigious Ateneo Veneto, which pursues and promotes culture and knowledge
But after 40 years of work and public service, something suddenly changed:
with the introduction of racist laws of the Fascist regime in 1938, Giuseppe Jona and all jews became outcasts, to be despised, avoided, and discriminated
And in 1940, his name was cancelled from the register of doctors and he was barred from the profession.
But Giuseppe did not let a regime stop him from being of help and a reference for others:
despite being non-practising, in 1940 Giuseppe accepted to become the Venice rabbi and guide the Jewish community in such hard, disturbing, and dangerous times.
And in this role, this great man became a hero. The greatest hero in the history of Venice.
When the armistice between Italy and the Allies came into effect on the 8 of September 1943, N**i troops in Italy became occupant forces and rapidly intensified the deportation of Jews to concentration and extermination camps.
Immediately, occupying forces ordered Giuseppe to hand over a list with the names of over 1300 Jews that were still in Venice.
Giuseppe, naturally, had no intention to comply and betray the people he had come to guide.
He was also aware, however, that he could be tortured brutally until he'd become a tool himself to find and kill his people
After writing his will and giving all his belongings to charities, on the 17 of September 1943, after having destroyed every single document that could lead to Jews living in Venice, he erased the last piece of evidence: he killed himself.
Raids and searches by occupant forces looking for Jews continued, but 1100 people out of 1350 were never found.
A man that had dedicated his life to others, a man whose mission had been to save lives and celebrate lives, took his own life to save that of over 1100 people he swore to guide and protect.
This is the story of Giuseppe Jona, a hero
But let us never forget:
this is the story of just one man, one of the over 6 million men, women, and children that were killed by the disgusting Holocaust.
We must remember, always.
