The caress of the righteous

Vehbi Efendi was already old in 1915. Muslim Turk, years of working in the postal services of the Ottoman Empire. He had lived in Istanbul for some time, but had never forgotten his hometown of Savur, in the south-east of the country. That summer, news of the first killings and deportations against Armenians and minorities arrived from there. Vehbi didn't have to be told twice: he left to help as many people as possible. And he did it. His country villa, the abandoned caves on the outskirts of the city, even the tandoors, the large cylindrical vessels used for cooking: Vehbi managed to hide and save at least 200 Armenians.

Giacomo Bassi was municipal secretary in Canegrate, near Milan. In 1943, at the height of the Nazi-Fascist persecution against the Jews, he decided to get involved personally. He did it in front of the face of Paola Contente who arrived in her office with her son Nissim. Paola, her husband Israel and her three children were displaced and had tried to emigrate to Switzerland only to be rejected. They asked Bassi for help. «Everyone said that he was a good person and that he had already helped a lot of people. We went to him. He helped us. He gave us blank documents and so we changed our identity..." Bassi, as happened in other situations, provided the documents and stamps, found safe accommodation for the whole family, and personally provided the food.

Djuro Ivkovic was a Serbian policeman from the Bosnian municipality of Nevesinje. When the violence against Muslim civilians began, he took their side at the cost of his life. In July 1992, he saved three boys from the Ćatić family, then Mrs. Nura Mičijević's two children aged 6 months and 3 years, and two elderly ladies. Nothing exceptional for Djuro, simply consistency with his values. He once confided that "in war, the most important thing is to save one's integrity and protect the family". This is what he did until the end.

Zura Karuhimbi was born into a Hutu family, the ethnic group responsible for the 1994 Rwandan genocide against the Tutsi population. She was already old, but she had the courage to say no to that collective delirium. “I've hidden so many people that I don't even remember some of their names anymore,” she said. “I hid small children that I found on the bodies of dead mothers and brought them here.” With a trick. As a woman and healer, she Zura was considered a witch. She used this distorted belief to save lives. One day, when she was accused by Hutu militiamen of protecting the Tutsis, she candidly ordered them to be careful not to be attacked by spirits. “If I die,” she said, “you will die too.” No one harmed her or her charges.

Vehbi, Giacomo, Djuro, Zura: different stories, countries and eras, but the same mystery.
The mystery of good that makes room even in the most atrocious war, raises its head, nourishes hope. Without fanfare, without triumphalism, like a seal that does not leave the last word to evil. Vehbi, Giacomo, Djuro, Zura are part of the ranks of the righteous.
Who knows how many like them even today! God's caresses to a crying world...

Matteo Spicuglia
NP November 2023