Francesco Repetto

Monsignor Francesco Repetto (Genoa, 1914–1984) was an 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 of thousands of Jews during the Holocaust in Italy during the German occupation.

Biography

As a young man, he studied at Gregorian University. While in Rome he met and became friends with Monsignor Giovanni Battista Montini (the future Pope Paul VI). He was ordained into the priesthood in 1938 and two years later, was appointed secretary to the Archbishop of Genoa Pietro Boetto. Genoa in the meantime was chosen as the headquarters of DELASEM, a legal Jewish organization chaired by the lawyer Avvocato Lelio Vittorio Valobra, dedicated to providing assistance to the growing number of Jewish refugees in Italy.

In 1944, Archbishop Filippo Bernardini, Apostolic Nuncio in Bern, was instrumental in maintaining the lines of communication between Valobra (settled in Zurich) and Father Repetto, who was still in Genoa. At the Genoa Curia, many letters arrived from Jews in the Vatican seeking news of their relatives and acquaintances in northern Italy.

To manage the difficult task of distributing funds, Father Repetto benefitted from the cooperation of some willing "money couriers", such as Jewish couriers Raffaele Cantoni, Giorgio Nissim or Salvatore Jona. A large group of priests also acted in this capacity, among them Father Giovanni De Micheli; Father Alessandro Piazza (who at the time was Bishop of Albenga); Father Gian Maria Rotondi; Father Carlo Salvi; Father Natale Traverso; Father Raffaele Storace, and Father Giuseppe Viola. These priests were sent on missions to various episcopal curiae, in Tuscany, Umbria, Marche, Piedmont, Valle d'Aosta, Lombardy and Veneto, in visits carefully planned by Father Repetto.

The links of solidarity that radiated out from Genoa to various localities allowed for an almost regular arrival of funds essential to the survival of thousands of Jews in central and northern Italy during the German occupation. Father Repetto developed many contacts with Father Giuseppe Bicchierai in Milan who was also secretary to the Cardinal. Schuster was a valuable contact as he was chaplain at Milan's prison of San Vittore. In Turin, contacts were with Monsignor Vincenzo Barale, secretary of the Cardinal. In Florence, Cardinal Dalla Costa delegated his secretary, Monsignor Giacomo Meneghello and the Rector of the Seminary, Monsignor Enrico Bartoletti, along with Father Leto Casini, Father Cipriano Ricotti, Father Giulio Facibeni, Giorgio La Pira and Adone Zoli as contacts.

The list of local contacts is extensive, including Father Raimondo Viale in Borgo San Dalmazzo, Father Bruno Beccari and Giuseppe Moreali in Nonantola, Giorgio Nissim and Father Arturo Paoli in Lucca, Mario Finzi in Bologna, fathers Aldo Brunacci and Rufino Nicacci in Assisi, Father Maria Benedetto, Angelo De Fiore, Settimo Sorani, and Sorani's assistant Giuseppe Levi in Rome. Among the best-known couriers in the project was cyclist and eventual Tour de France champion Gino Bartali.