Angelo Donati
Angelo Donati | |
|---|---|
| Born | Template:Birth date Modena, Italy |
| Died | December 30, 1960 (aged 75) |
| Occupation(s) | Banker, philanthropist, diplomat |
| Known for | Efforts to protect Jews from Nazi persecution in Italian-occupied France during 1942–1943 |
Cavalier Angelo Donati (3 February 1885 – 30 December 1960) was an Italian banker, philanthropist, and diplomat representing the Republic of San Marino in Paris.
Biography
Originating from a distinguished Sephardi Jewish lineage in Modena, Donati gained recognition for his efforts to protect Jews from Nazi persecution in Italian-occupied France during the years 1942–1943.
His family held significant influence in the region, with roots extending back to the 16th century when buckwheat cultivation was introduced to the Duchy of Modena and Reggio under Duke Cesare d'Este.
Angelo’s father, Salvatore, was engaged in commerce. Among his seven siblings were distinguished figures such as banker Lazzaro Donati (1873–1918), industrialist Nino, attorney Federico, and academic Benvenuto. His extended family included prominent individuals like a university president, a celebrated surgeon, and an antifascist member of parliament. His uncles featured banker Lazzaro Donati (1845–1932), who held an executive role at Cassa di Risparmio delle Provincie Lombarde, and lawyer Augusto Donati, who presided over Pio Albergo Trivulzio and regional orphanages. Angelo’s nephew Enrico Donati emerged as a notable surrealist painter.
After completing his law studies and gaining experience in banking sectors of Milan and Turin, Donati served as an infantry captain during the First World War before transferring to aviation where he undertook several missions. He also acted as a liaison officer between Italian and French military forces.
In 1919, he established residence in Paris and managed enterprises in both Italy and France. He held the position of general Consul for San Marino from 1925 to 1932 and led the Italian Chamber of Commerce in Paris between 1932 and 1939, resigning due to fascist racial legislation. His accolades included being named Grand’Ufficiale of the Italian Crown, Commendatore dell’Ordine di Sant'Agata by San Marino, and Commandeur of the French Légion d'honneur in 1936.
Assistance to Jews, 1942-1943
Prior to the German occupation of Paris in 1940, Donati departed the city, traveling through Cauterets, Marseille, and eventually settling in Nice, which came under Italian control on 18 November 1942. While in Nice, as director of the Franco-Italian Bank, he utilized his extensive connections within Italian military and diplomatic spheres to support Jewish communities.
Collaborating closely with the Committee for Refugee Aid ("Committee Dubouchage") and Rabbi Saltiel, he facilitated visa issuance and protective measures. These initiatives empowered Italian consul Alberto Calisse to defy French directives—imposed under German pressure—to deport Jews to Poland. The committee issued synagogue visas that French authorities were compelled to recognize due to Italian authorization.
Following German objections, Mussolini created a Crown Office of Racial Police in Nice led by Inspector Guido Lospinoso, who sought Donati’s advice on local affairs. When the Vichy regime mandated arrests of foreign Jews along the Côte d'Azur, Italian officials asserted jurisdiction over their occupied zone by nullifying these orders. Italian police forces even deployed carabinieri units to shield Jews from assaults by French militia groups.
These measures illustrated Italy’s resistance against German demands, with Donati playing a pivotal diplomatic role. Despite German arrest commands, he coordinated the relocation of approximately 2,500 Jews from Nice to safer locations such as Saint-Martin-Vésubie in Alpes-Maritimes, instructing French authorities not to intervene. This episode was portrayed in the documentary 1943, A pause during the Holocaust, which premiered in Paris in 2009.
Donati’s humanitarian contributions in Nice earned him legendary status; even adversaries referred to him as "the Pope of the Jews" due to his steadfast dedication.
The 1943 rescue initiative
At the beginning of 1943, Donati formulated a plan to relocate thousands of Jewish individuals from southern France to Palestine, enlisting support from Italian, Vatican, British, and American officials. In August, he engaged with British and American Vatican envoys Osborne and Titman and worked alongside French Capuchin Père Marie-Benoît, who was connected to the Italian Jewish relief organization DELASEM.
The plan's objective was to transfer as many Jewish refugees as possible into Italy, followed by their shipment on four vessels (Duilio, Giulio Cesare, Saturnia, Vulcania), financed by the Jewish Joint Committee, toward Northern Africa. Passports were issued in Rome, and the Badoglio government designated reception centers for refugees, confirming the operation’s viability before Italy’s Armistice with the Allies on September 3.
Following Italy’s armistice signing, the scheme fell apart. Donati planned to return to Nice to coordinate transfers but was instead detained in Florence; meanwhile, in Nice, the Gestapo searched for him and ransacked his residence. Pursued by German forces within Italy, he concealed himself for three months across Tuscany and Lombardy before escaping to Switzerland on October 14, 1943.
From Montreux, Donati actively contacted the International Red Cross and met diplomats in Bern to investigate the fate of deported Jewish individuals.
The diplomat from 1945 to 1960
In 1945, the Italian Government summoned Donati back to France to serve as general assistant Delegate of the Red Cross. Working closely with Italian ambassador Giuseppe Saragat (who later became President of Italy), he negotiated with French authorities for the liberation of Italian prisoners and internees. Additionally, he acted as Chargé d'Affaires for San Marino in Paris and was elevated to Plenipotentiary Minister in November 1953.
Drawing upon his relationship with Apostolic Nuncio Angelo Roncalli (later Pope John XXIII), Donati played a key role in resolving the 1953 Finaly Affair, which involved two Jewish children hidden by Catholic nuns who refused to return them after the war due to their baptism.
While Donati rejected any claims of heroism, he earned recognition from Jewish communities in Nice and individuals alike. He adopted two Jewish children, Marianne and Rolf Spier, whose parents perished in Nazi concentration camps. After Donati fled to Switzerland, his servant Francesco Moraldo sheltered them in Liguria.
Donati passed away in Paris. His legacy has been honored through various commemorations such as a 2004 academic conference and photo exhibition in Modena and 2016 events in Nice that included unveiling a plaque on the Promenade des Anglais near Hôtel Negresco.
Honours
- Grand'Ufficiale of the Italian Crown
- Commendatore of the Ordine di Sant'Agata of San Marino
- Commandeur de la Legion d'honneur, 1936
- Commendatore dell'Ordine della Stella della Solidarietà Italiana, 23 November 1950
- Posthumous recognition on 26 January 2004 by Italian President Ciampi: During World War II within French regions under Italian military occupation, Angelo Donati bravely collaborated with Italian civil and military authorities to rescue thousands of Jews from deportation to Nazi extermination camps. His dedication embodied liberty and justice, establishing him as a distinguished example of civic virtue.
See also
References
- Encyclopaedia Judaica, volume VI, page 166
- André Waksman (director), television film HD-TV 1943, A pause during the Holocaust, Italy/France, 2009, duration 59 minutes
- Paolo Veziano, Angelo Donati, A Modenese Jew between Italy and France, exhibition catalog Modena, January 27, 2004
- Edmond Fleg and Raoul Elia, Introduction to the Passover Haggadah, Sefer Angelo, Milan, Editrice Fondazione Sally Mayer, 1962
- Elena Aga Rossi, A Nation in Disarray. The Armistice of September 8, Bologna, Il Mulino, 2003
- Daniel Carpi, Between Mussolini and Hitler: Jews and Italian Authorities in France and Tunisia, Hannover-London, Brandeis University Press, 1994
- Maria Sofia Casnedi - Fabio Della Seta, Dear Sophie, Udine, Paolo Gaspari Publisher, 1966
- Alberto Cavaglion, In the Foreign Night. The Jews of St Martin Vésubie, Cuneo, L'Arciere, 2003 fourth updated edition; French translation Nice, Editions Serre, 1993
- Liliana Picciotto Fargion, The Book of Memory. Jews Deported from Italy (1943–1945), Milan, Mursia, 2002 new updated edition
- Paolo Frajese, The Last Refuge: Jews in France under Italian Occupation, TG1 documentary, November 13, 1997
- Madeleine Kahn, Angelo Donati. From the Italian Oasis to the Site of German Crimes, Paris, Editions Bénévent, 2004
- Serge Klarsfeld, Vichy-Auschwitz. 1942–1944, Paris, Fayard, 2001 new expanded edition
- Jean Marie G. Le Clézio, Wandering Star, Paris, Gallimard, 1992; Italian translation by Ela Basso, Milan, Saggiatore, 2000
- François Maspero, The Time of the Italians, Turin, Einaudi, 1998
- Jean Louis Panicacci, The Alpes Maritimes from 1939 to 1945, Nice Editions Serre1989
- Léon Poliakov - Jacques Sabille, The Condition of Jews under Italian Occupation Milan Edizioni di Comunità 1956
- Davide Rodogno The New Mediterranean Order. Fascist Italy's Occupation Policies in Europe (1940–1943) Turin Bollati Boringhieri 2003
- Hélène Saulnier Occupied Nice in "Les Langues Néo-Latines" LXXXIX 1995 pp.49–58
- Michele Sarfatti Jews in Fascist Italy Turin Einaudi 2000
- Jonathan Steinberg All or Nothing: The Axis and the Jews in Occupied Territories 1941–1943 Milan Mursia 1997
- Olga Tarcali (1935–1945) Turin Harmattan Italia 2004 ()
- Klaus Voigt The Precarious Refuge: Exiles in Italy from 1933 to 1945 Florence La Nuova Italia 1993 and 1996 two volumes
- Paolo Veziano Border Shadows: Illegal Emigration of Foreign Jews from the Riviera dei Fiori to the French Riviera (1938–1940) Pinerolo Alzavi 2001
- Susan Zuccotti, The Holocaust the French and the Jews New York Basic Books 1993