Mother Superior & Holocaust Hero: Maria Agnese Tribbioli

Simone Sacerdoti, his wife Marcella and their children Cesare-David (b. 1938) and Vittorio (b. 1941) lived in Florence, Italy during World War II. The Sacerdoti family were Jewish and Simone was the community cantor, with family life revolving around the synagogue and the Jewish community. The 1938 race laws made life more difficult for the family, but Simone continued to work as a cantor. When the Germans entered the city in 1943, they remained in their homes. However, on November 6, 1943, the Germans and Fascists raided the community offices and synagogue, and created such chaos and destruction that the family decided to flee.

Simone had become involved in rescue activities, and helped the well-known Rabbi Nathan Cassuto save other Jews, aided by Cardinal Elia Dalla Costa and many other clergy members. Cardinal Dalla Costa headed one of the most active networks rescuing Jews from Nazi persecution in Italy. Through the mediation of the cardinal’s secretary, Giacomo Meneghello, Marcella and her two sons were transferred into the care of Maria Agnese Tribbioli, the founder of the Pie Operaie di San Giuseppe Order, and Mother Superior at the Firenze Convent on Ferragli Street. Simone took shelter in a number of other places, including with members of the clergy.

Maria Agnese Tribbioli was born on April 20, 1879, in Florence, Italy. Her father died when Maria was 11 years old, leaving the family in a very frail economic condition. Nonetheless, Maria and her sisters received a solid Catholic education and Maria became a nun in 1901. She started working as a teacher for the San Jose Patronage but left in 1917 to found the Pie Operaie di San Giuseppe Order. The first few years were full of hardships for the new Congregation until it received official recognition, in 1927 by Monsignor Tribbioli, a first cousin of Sister Maria, who served as Bishop of the Dioceses at that time.

Cesare-David remembers being welcomed by Sister Maria as they arrived at the convent, where they met other Jewish families hiding there with their children. All the Jews lived in one hall, and a nun slept there with them. To the best recollection of Cesare-David, his family paid nothing to the convent, and Cardinal Dalla Costa asked the convent to help, but never ordered it. It was the decision of the Mother Superior, Maria, to host and help the endangered Jews, even though it put herself in great peril. She never informed the other nuns of the real identities of their guests, just calling them "homeless refugees".

Cesare-David and Vittorio joined the convent kindergarten, which was led by the Mother Superior. For most of the day, the children were in the company of the nuns, as the Jewish women remained hidden in the hall. Cesare-David, who was five years old at the time, remembers Maria, a short but energetic lady, stroking his head without saying a word. On November 27, 1943, Simone and other rescue activists felt that the convent was no longer a safe place after the Germans raided a nearby convent and arrested many Jewish women with their children. That day, the Mother Superior ordered all the nuns to stay locked in their quarters until all the guests left. Only when the nuns came out and saw that they had all fled, did they comprehend their true identity.

Simone Sacerdoti, his wife Marcella and their children, Cesare-David and Vittorio, hid in different places, all religious institutions, with the help of Christian clergy. Thanks to all of the help they received, the family survived the end of World War II. Mother Superior Maria Agnese Tribbioli died on February 27, 1965 and was buried in the Chapel of Betania, in Florence. On June 16, 2009, Yad Vashem recognized Mother Superior Maria Agnese Tribbioli as Righteous Among the Nations.

(Information provided by Yad Vashem)