Msgr. Vicenzo Barale, who helped save many Jews from the fascists and Nazis during World War II, died yesterday at his home in Rivoli at the age of 75. The Jewish community in Turin, where he carried out his activities when he was Cardinal Fossati’s secretary; recalled that not even imprisonment by the Nazis and fascists on suspicion of his clandestine activity stopped him from courageously continuing his work of dedication to justice and compassion. He was remembered after the war by the Jews he saved and was awarded the Gold Medal of the Italian Jewish community in Milan on April 17, 1955.
Although Barale shied away from publicity it was known that he and Fossati saved many Jewish lives by offering them secret shelter, producing false documents and helping them to escape when possible. On Aug. 2, 1944, Barale was arrested by the Nazis who had heard of his activity. They surrounded the Bishop’s palace in Turin, and conducted a room-to-room-search, looking for hidden refugees. When they found none, they took Barale with them and imprisoned him for several weeks.
He was freed through the intervention of the Archbishop of Milan, Cardinal Schuster, but was then forced to remain in the town of Cesano Boscon### under house arrest. Barale was one of 23 other Catholics who received the Gold Medal of the Italian Jewish community. Several Italian priests have also been awarded the highest possible recognition in Israel for selfless courage trees in the memorial Forest of “The Righteous of the Gentiles” at Yad Vashem.”
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