Marking the launch of the Giro d’Italia cycling race in Jerusalem later this week, Jerusalem U has released a short film detailing the remarkable story of heroism and bravery of one the cycling world’s most accomplished athletes, Gino Bartali, during World War II.
Three time winner of the famed race, as well as two-time winner of the Tour D’France, Bartali’s actions, largely unknown beyond Holocaust scholars, have been described as a major motivation to bring the race to Israel.
Film Director Rebecca Shore said, “This film allows us to appreciate the sacrifice of another untold hero of the Holocaust who used his talents and his celebrity to save fellow human beings when it would have been far easier to just stay quiet,” she says. “Over seven decades later his legacy is being realized in this remarkable display of athleticism as many of the world’s best cyclists will ride with modern Jerusalem and Israel as the backdrop. This is something which we can be sure would have given him tremendous pride and serves as a fitting tribute to this remarkable man.”
Entitled Gino Bartali: The Holocaust’s Hidden Hero, the ten-minute long film tells the story of how Bartali confronted fascism in his native Italy and risked his own safety to smuggle documents that would eventually help over 800 Jews escape from Nazi-occupied Italy. Bartali leveraged his celebrity status as an accomplished cyclist as well as his athletic prowess to hide the documents inside his bicycle frame and bike thousands of miles to pass through Nazi checkpoints.
He spoke little of his actions even after the war, living with a mantra “Good is something you do, not something you talk about.” Only after evidence produced by a survivor, several years after his death, in 2013 Bartali was recognized by Yad Vashem as “Righteous Among the Nations,” the designation given to those whose heroic actions saved Jews from Nazi capture.
Featured in the film, Ran Margaliot of the Israel Cycling Academy says of Bartali, “He didn’t let cycling be the only thing for him. He used it to achieve way greater things. He risked his life to save people he never met. He had every reason not to and he still decided to do it. For me he’s an inspiration as I believe that greatness is not about winning but about doing the right thing at the right time. His story is an integral part of the Jewish and Israeli story and this is an important opportunity to thank him for doing what’s right.”