The just will not be forgotten

The invitation for the day of December 10, 2013 had as its title “Memory and Encounter”. This initiative of the Franciscan Missionary of Mary (FMM) community in Florence even reached Tel Aviv. The encounter was with those persons who had lived the events and who had agreed to speak about what they had lived and thus bear witness.

This was the 70th anniversary of the welcoming of Jews in 1943 during the persecutions and arrests carried out by the Nazis. The FMM community, under the leadership of its superior, Sister Ester (Righteous among the Nations) opened the gates from September to the women and children. They numbered between 50 and 80 according to the witnesses. There is no precise list as it was too dangerous to draw one up. In order to save as many as possible, the networks of information were composed of bishops from the different cities. The Carmine Convent in Florence was among those.

The FMM community in Florence organized the encounter with the Jewish community in the city. Two days before the meeting, the guest of honor arrived: Leah Reuveni, accompanied by her granddaughter. Lea arrived from Tel Aviv because, after consultation, the Jewish community who knew her, concluded that she would be the best witness.

At 87 years of age, she is full of energy as befits a person full of hope and who helps all around her. Invited to lunch, Lea retold her experience and then repeated this narrative for a crowd of invited guests on December 19. Among the guests of honor were Cardinal Betori, Archbishop of Florence, Chief Rabbi Joseph Levi, Sara Cividalli and Elisabetta Meucci, municipal delegate.

Sister Guiliana, the provincial, opened by saying that she was agreeably surprised by the good turnout for the event. She recalled that from its beginnings, the house was envisioned by the foundress, Blessed Mary of the Passion, as a house of welcome for all. She emphasized the welcome that this event was honoring: a welcome enacted with heart and mind, which gives life and hope and which allows the experience of communion in difference, not without difference but because of difference.

The invited guests also underlined the quality of the welcome which allowed the saving of so many lives. Leah Reuveni was applauded at length for her witness. 70 years after the event, she was once again at the location.

Riccardo Pacifici was next and he expressed his admiration for the Sisters, who despite the great risks, opened their convent. They respected Jewish practices, cooking for the Jews when they were not permitted to do so. His father, Emmanuele Pacifici had always sought out the ones saved in order to make known the “Righteous among the Nations”.

There were many other witnesses too, each one emotionally charged. Sister Giuliana invited Sister Tarcisia to speak of Sister Ester, who she had known well. She had a capacity to keep silent and to make difficult choices. “As a woman and as a FMM, she stood before the choice of life and she chose it”. Sister Tarcisia had collected photos and objects from the period and invited one and all to examine them, enabling the guests to imagine life in the convent at the time.