Of Alberto Negri

Source: Alberto Negri
The departure of the Tour of Italy bought by Israel at war and the controversy over Gino Bartali as savior of the Jews
To make the event memorable, Gino Bartali was also involved, already entered the Garden of the Righteous of Yad Vashem and now an honorary citizen of Israel for the rescue of some Jews among the 1943 and the 1944. The question is actually very dubious, not even Bartali himself had ever confirmed it while alive. Actually according to the scholar Michel Sarfatti – until 2016 director of the Contemporary Jewish Documentation Center Foundation – it is a sensational historical falsehood
[In the photo, the young Gino Bartali during the war. Gino Bartali was a soldier of the Italian Social Republic. More precisely, he was a Gnr motorcyclist, the Republican National Guard, edited by the editorial staff ]
The Israelis have already won the pink jersey of the Giro d'Italia this year: As cyclists they aren't that great but no one can beat them when it comes to propaganda and marketing. Even at the cost of some sensational historical falsehoods regarding the figure of Gino Bartali. At the price of 16 million euros paid to RCS and Gazzetta dello Sport the start of the Giro d'Italia was "contracted out" to Israel: three stages on Israeli territory and starting yesterday with an individual time trial from Jerusalem. To Gino Bartali, credited as savior of Jews during the war, citizenship is conferred posthumously. If he were alive perhaps he would look beyond the wall that separates Israelis from Palestinians and not be so happy.
A letter from around thirty Italian Jewish intellectuals highlights the inconsistencies of this initiative, an image operation on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the State of Israel. If for many Jews the date of May 1948 it means rebirth after the Holocaust, to the Palestinians this historical passage reminds the "Nakba", to catastrophes, with the humiliation and exile of hundreds of thousands of Arabs. Not only that: all this happens while Israel is literally targeting the Palestinians and the Jewish state is involved in raids in Syria and would like to wage war on Iran.
The stop in Jerusalem itself was a sort of challenge to international legality: the eastern part is an occupied city. An unacceptable situation reinforced by Trump's decision to move the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and to recognize it as the capital of the Jewish state. The Giro risks finding itself in the middle of a political and propaganda operation in favor of illegal decisions not accepted by the European Union itself, as well as UN resolutions.
As if that wasn't enough, to make the occasion memorable, Gino Bartali was also involved, already entered the Garden of the Righteous of Yad Vashem and now an honorary citizen of Israel for the rescue of some Jews among the 1943 and the 1944. The question is actually very dubious, not even Bartali himself had ever confirmed it while alive. Actually according to the scholar Michel Sarfatti (until 2016 director of the Contemporary Jewish Documentation Center Foundation) it is a sensational historical falsehood.
According to a book, “Clandestine Assisi” by Alexander Ramati published in 1978, Bartali had the job of courier between Florence and Assisi. The cyclist reached Assisi, pretending to be training, with photographs and documents, going back with false identity cards to save the skin of Jews and partisans persecuted by Nazis and fascists. The story is evocative. The clandestine material was hidden in Bartali's own bicycle as he removed the sleeves from the handlebars and unscrewed the saddle to take the photographs and papers hidden inside the frame.
The historian Sarfatti, in detailed article, proves that it is a story full of inventions. a fake. The courier activity between Florence and Assisi attributed by Ramati to Gino Bartali is not mentioned nor in the testimonies of the organizers of the Florentine rescue, nor in her private writings or public statements and the documents that describe her are based on Ramati's book. Furthermore, it is explicitly denied by Don Aldo Brunacci, canon of the cathedral of Assisi, commissioned by his bishop to organize relief for the Jews.
Sarfatti reports Brunacci's testimony: “It's a real novel. The author of "Assisi clandestina" certainly had a script for a film in mind and could not find a more suitable character than Bartali, the sporting hero par excellence of that era”. Sarfatti's comment on the Bartali affair is lapidary: “The history of the manufacture of false identity cards for clandestine Jews in Florence is paved with grandiose humanity and terrible deaths. The first does not require myths, the latter require respect".
In summary: let Bartali rest in peace and “That sad nose like a climb / Those cheerful eyes of an Italian on a trip”, as Paolo Conte sang. He really pedaled and not even in death does he need the doping of historical fakes to remain in the memory of Italians and of world sport.