Villa Emma Foundation

(Nonantola, Emilia-Romagna)

Credits: Archivio-Fondazione-Villa-Emma

Where are we?

We are at Villa Emma Foundation, in Nonantola

Founded in 2004 with educational and cultural purposes, it recalls how the local community has helped, hosted and rescued 73 foreign children.

The Villa, built in 1890 as a summer residence, was used by DELASEM (Delegation for the Assistance of Jewish Emigrants) from July 1942 to house a group of Jewish children who had left Germany, Austria, and Yugoslavia. During the German occupation of Italy, residents of Nonantola hid the children and their educators on the initiative of Doctor Giuseppe Moreali and Priest Don Arrigo Beccari.

As the danger of roundups and searches intensified, the group managed to escape to Switzerland. All the children survived the Holocaust, except one: a boy who suffered from tuberculosis and was taken by the Carabinieri from the sanatorium to the Fossoli camp.

In 1965, Giuseppe Moreali and Don Arrigo Beccari were bestowed the title of ‘Righteous among the Nations’ by Yad Vashem. This story was also retold by an Austrian television film, Die Kinder der Villa Emma (The Children of Villa Emma, 2016).

The Villa Emma Foundation was established in 2004, inspired by the solidarity that drove the community to welcome and help 73 Jewish children sixty years before. Originating from these events, it promotes historical research, meetings with schools, training activities, exhibitions, and conferences. Connections and friendships have flourished between the inhabitants of Nonantola and some of the former refugees.

Photo: Villa Emma in the early 40’s. Credits: Archivio Storico Comunale di Nonantola

USEFUL INFORMATION

Facility or museum: yes

Website: fondazionevillaemma.org

Geographic location: Nonantola (MO), Emilia-Romagna