HISTORY – Florence remembers the heroes of the 1966 Flood

On November 4, 1966, Florence was gripped by a catastrophe when the Arno River overflowed, devastating the historic center and its priceless treasures. Volunteers from around the world came to aid, later dubbed the “Mud Angels”—a term coined by Corriere della Sera journalist Giovanni Grazzini in his praise-filled articles about the “best of youth” who shoveled mud for days to save artworks and invaluable cultural treasures from destruction.
In honor of these “angels” who helped Florence rise again, on the 58th anniversary of the flood the Tuscan regional president, Eugenio Giani, announced a new digital archive to collect every possible account of their efforts. The archive is set to go online in 2026, precisely 60 years after the flood.
Among those “angels” was Luciano Camerino, then a 40-year-old survivor of the Nazi roundup in Rome on October 16, 1943. He bore number 158510 tattooed on his arm from Auschwitz-Birkenau. On hearing of the flood’s devastation, Camerino traveled to Florence to assist the local Jewish community, which had been heavily affected. The sight of the synagogue submerged in water and Torah scrolls turned to pulp was overwhelming; he collapsed and soon passed away. A damaged Torah scroll from the flood now rests with him in his grave.
In 2016, on the flood’s 50th anniversary, Camerino’s story was shared in an exhibit at the National Central Library, organized by the Foundation for Jewish Cultural Heritage in Italy. During the event, with his family present, Camerino was hailed as a “hero” of Florence, one of the “angels” who enabled the city’s survival, both physically and morally. As former Mayor Piero Bargellini said in a ceremony at the Palazzo Vecchio honoring international aid, “the foundations of Florence reach into the soul, not only of Florentines but beyond.”

Photo: Andrea Belgrado captured this image at the intersection of Via Farini and Via dei Pilastri, just steps from the synagogue’s entrance.