Lelio Vittorio Valobra

"[1] In October 1938, after the passage of racial laws in Italy and the flight of Jews fleeing after the "annexation" of Austria by the Third Reich, Valobra, on recommendation of the Union of Italian Jewish Communities, of which he was vice-president, was commissioned to organize the relief activities and coordinate the stay of Jewish refugees in Italy.

At Nonantola they were hidden and protected by local people during the Nazi roundups until Valobra was able to provide for their expatriation to Switzerland.

[2] By September 8, 1943, the German occupation had set up the puppet state Italian Social Republic and ordered the specific roundup of Jews.

Valobra, helped by Raffaele Cantoni and Massimo Teglio, made contact with Cardinal Pietro Boetto of the Catholic Church, who headed the diocese of Genoa, and who instructed his secretary Father Francesco Repetto that the work of DELASEM would continue and would provide material assistance and shelter to persecuted Jews, both Italians and foreigners.

[2] In November 1943, after the news about the deportation of Jews from Genoa and the community of Montecatini, Valobra was hidden by the Bishop of Chiavari, and had to flee to Switzerland, where he continued to manage DELASEM until the end of the war.