From left to right: Zelinda and Pietro Giardini, and Adelmo and Eva Giardini
Ettore Norsi survived the Holocaust in hiding at the estate of the Giardini family at Nebbina, Castelnuovo Berardenga (Italy)
09 August 2018
On Sunday, 12 August 2018, Yad Vashem, the World Holocaust Remembrance Center, will host a ceremony posthumously honoring Adelmo and Eva Giardini and Pietro and Zelinda Giardini from Italy as Righteous Among the Nations. Director of Yad Vashem's Righteous Among the Nations Department Dr. Joel Zisenwine will present the medal and certificate of honor to Barabara Giardini and Loredana Giardini, granddaughters of the late Pietro and Zelinda Giardini, on behalf of Yad Vashem, the State of Israel and the Jewish people.
A representative of the Italian Embassy to Israel, together with Marina Norsi, the wife of the late rescued survivor Ettore-Israel Norsi, and members of the Giardini family, will attend the ceremony, which will start at 11:00 and be conducted in Hebrew and Italian. Media interested in covering this event should contact simmy.allen@yadvashem.org.il, and arrive on Sunday by 11:00 with valid GPO card at the Hall of Remembrance.
The names of Adelmo and Eva Giardini and Pietro and Zelinda Giardini will be added to the Wall of Honor in the Garden of the Righteous Among the Nations at Yad Vashem.
The Rescue Story
Odoardo Norsi, who worked as a train driver, lived with his wife, Ermina, and their son Ettore-Israel in Genoa. In the summer of 1943, the family left Genoa for the countryside on their annual vacation. Following the Italian armistice with the Allies and subsequent German occupation of Italy on 8 September 1943, the family decided to separate. Ermina remained with her elderly parents in a village outside of Genoa. Odoardo took his brother-in-law, Angelo Veroli, and the couple's son Ettore and headed south to Tuscany. They found refuge for three days in Boscarelli and then, through Odoardo's railway contacts, 17-year-old Ettore was sent to live with the extended Giardini family ̶ Adelmo and Eva Giardini and their children, and Pietro and Zelinda Giardini and their children ̶ at their Nebbina estate in Castelnuovo Berardenga. The Giardinis treated him as one of the family. To allay the suspicions of the neighbors, they took him to church on Sundays and introduced him as a relative sent to the countryside to escape the aerial bombardment of the Italian cities. Ettore helped with the household chores and worked in the vineyards during the harvest. The Giardinis, cognizant of the fact that Jews did not eat pork, abstained from serving it to their guest. As the fighting moved northward, the family prepared a hiding place for him in the forest should the need arise. Despite the danger to themselves and their families if discovered sheltering a Jew, the Giardinis continued to care for Ettore for almost two years. After the liberation of the area in August 1944, the Norsi family was reunited and returned to Genoa. Over the years, Ettore remained in touch with members of the Giardini family.
On 21 March 2017, Yad Vashem recognized Adelmo and Eva Giardini as well as Pietro and Zelinda Giardini as Righteous Among the Nations.
To date, Yad Vashem has recognized some 27,000 individuals from over 50 countries, including 694 from Italy, as Righteous Among the Nations.
