In December 2025, Mombaroccio, a town in the Marche region where Allied forces broke through the Gothic Line during WWII, was awarded the Gold Medal for Civil Merit by the Italian president. The award recognized the town’s assistance to refugees and people fleeing persecution who were sheltered at the local Franciscan monastery and in private homes.
One of these stories of rescue has also been given recognition by Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Remembrance Center in Jerusalem. Yad Vashem has posthumously named Igino and Annetta Ciaffoni and Father Sante Raffaelli “Righteous Among the Nations.” During a ceremony on August 11, it was recalled that all three played a role in helping the Sarano family, including Alfredo Sarano, who was secretary of the Jewish Community of Milan at the time. Sarano had fled northern Italy after hiding the community’s membership lists.
“The Sarano family was taken in by the Ciaffonis and helped by the Perazzinis. Thanks to Father Sante Raffaelli, guardian of the Sanctuary of Blessed Sante; Erich Eder, a young Wehrmacht officer who commanded the local military post; and the Ciaffonis and Perazzinis, the Sarano family survived the Holocaust,” said Remo Morpurgo, vice president of the Jewish Community of Ancona.
Those in attendance included the current guardian of the sanctuary, Father Rudy Fraticelli; Archbishop Sandro Salvucci of Pesaro and Urbino; Father Simone Giampieri, provincial minister of the Order of Friars Minor; and Mombaroccio Mayor Emanuele Petrucci.
“We Are Here; We Are Alive”
A diary written by Sarano about those years was crucial to Yad Vashem’s decision to grant the honor. The detailed account, preserved in three copies, remained in a drawer in Sarano’s Tel Aviv home for decades until it was shown to Pesaro journalist Roberto Mazzoli through an unexpected chain of events. Mazzoli later edited and published the diary under the title Siamo qui, siamo vivi (We Are Here, We Are Alive).
Morpurgo explained that Sarano’s diary “is the story of a journey to safety, but also a story of individuals. He engages with life and his relationships with others rather than fleeing from them. He maintains a positive, trusting attitude toward those around him while remaining pragmatic and able to assess situations.”
Reflecting on the stories of the Righteous, Morpurgo noted that they serve as a reminder that it is people’s actions, rather than their origins, that “make the difference between individuals. The Righteous are the people who uphold the values on which a better society can be built.”
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