In Cagliari, in the cemetery of San Michele, going to the military shrine located in the center of the cemetery structure and taking the road that runs alongside the shrine on the left, going all the way to the right towards the end of it, and taking the small an open entrance surrounded by two low walls leads to the cemetery of the English soldiers who fell on our island, still managed today by a British organization that deals with the memory of the fallen and the maintenance of burial spaces. Once there, in the last row at the back, surrounded by many tombstones with Christian crosses, one in particular stands out with a star of David in the centre.
It is the grave of soldier L. Joseph , who fell on our island, probably shot down, on June 27, 1943 . He was the son of Moses and Bertha, and had been born 31 years earlier in the Cape, in the province of George, in South Africa. Its story is linked to the sacrifice of hundreds and hundreds of brave Jewish soldiers who fought in the Allied ranks in the Second World War , but also to the sacrifice of many Jews who participated in the Resistance and in the partisan struggle and often gave an important contribution of blood.
Brave Jews who, in the allied armies and in the ranks of the partisans, had to do with Sardinia, often little-known stories which however demonstrate how one can speak of Jewish resistance also in reference to Sardinia : the soldier Joseph L., enlisted with the he British army fell in Sardinia on 27 June 1943 at the age of only 31. To date, we do not have confirmed information on the circumstance of death, but, from a cross-reference already made with other documentation, we can assume that it was killed. Identified by the tombstone bearing a large Star of David with the five Hebrew letters Tav, Nun, Tzadi, Vet, Hey inside from right to left . These letters are the initials of the words Tehey Nismato Tzurah B'tzror Hachaim which correspond to the phrase “May his soul be enshrined in the chains of eternal life”.
Renzo Cavaglione , born in Genoa on 23 May 1926. After 8 September 1943 he left the city to head towards southern Italy where he joined the Allies after a journey that touched Tuscany then Montuolo, Altopascio, Faenza, Ancona, Pescara, Francavilla at sea, Crecchio, Lanciano, Ariano Irpino, Nola, Piano di Sorrento and finally Naples, fighting until the end of the war for the liberation of Italy. Also wearing the uniform of the Jewish Brigade, he crosses by chance in Naples his cousin Vittorio Cavaglione , enlisted with the Americans, who convinces him to enlist with the latter by entering the Allied Force film office, a job that leads him to work for a certain period in Cagliari in the city office for receiving and sorting the Allied propaganda film material then distributed throughout Europe. Here in Cagliari he and his cousin are hosted in an apartment belonging to "A certain Mr. Thirteen" . It is not yet fully confirmed whether it is him, but we believe that Mr. Thirteen to whom he alludes in his diary is Vittorio Tredici, the former mayor of Cagliari and a leading exponent of the "Sardinian-fascist" current which in 1943-44 in Rome he saved a Jewish family and not only, and for this he received the title of "Righteous Among the Nations" from Yad Vashem in Jerusalem.
Renzo Coen , born in Genoa on 13 October 1924 and son of Gaddo and Augusta Rimini, was the grandson of Zaira Vittoria Coen Righi, the science teacher at the Azuni high school in Sassari who was expelled in 1938 following the anti-Jewish laws and who had made the unfortunate decision to leave the city to return to her sister in Florence from where she was deported and killed in 1944. Renzo, first fled to Switzerland with his father and sister and interned here in a refugee camp, made the decision to return to Italy to join the partisan struggle, and enlisted in the VIII Matteotti Brigade. He took part in the fighting in the Val d'Ossola. On 18 October 1944 he was seriously injured by the Nazi-fascists during a mopping-up operation in Bagni di Craveggia; transported to the Locarno "La Carità" hospital, he died on 20 October 1944 following his injuries.
Bruno Cevidalli was born in Cagliari on 5 June 1914, son of Attilio and Ada Gentili. Because of his anti-fascist activity in the spring of 1942 he was interned in the Camp of Urbisaglia. Released after a few months, Bruno Cevidalli returns to Vittorio Veneto. In September 1943 he went to Orsigna where he carried out anti-fascist activities together with his brother Guido; in the same place he also undertakes to help the English prisoners who escaped from the concentration camps. In January 1944 he contributed to the liberation struggle by organizing the first partisan formations in Pracchia ; in the same period it helps British and American prisoners to arrive in the allied areas. Even Bruno Cevidalli wants to reach the allied lines: however he is discovered and arrested by the fascist police. From 24 April 1944 he was detained in the prisons of Pistoia; he manages to escape in June of the same year thanks to contacts with some partisans.
He was arrested again and taken by the Germans to work on the Gothic Line; he still manages to escape after a few weeks. He took refuge in the Pistoia mountains and dedicated himself to partisan activity as part of the Garibaldi Brigade in the "Gino Bozzi" Brigade, "Cucciolo" formation. With the arrival of the Allies in the Pistoia area on 29 September 1944, Bruno Cevidalli assumed the position of liaison officer of the Italian Army at the General Headquarters of the Fifth American Army. In October 1944 Bruno Cevidalli was assigned to the Allied Army's Partisan Office; his job is to interrogate partisans and civilians who have reached the allied front. It also works in close connection with the PWB and the OSS. On 26 April 1945 he took part in the liberation of Genoa with the first allied column; in June of the same year Bruno Cevidalli was sent to Milan as a clerk in the Public Relations and Press office. In the same period he leaves the allied army. In 1949 he married Aziyadé Gabai in the Synagogue of Vittorio Veneto.
Alexander Matt
Sardinian Holocaust Memorial Association
