One of the greatest cyclists in modern history was Gino Bartali, two-time winner of the Tour De France.
What many people don’t know about him, is his wartime heroism, helping an underground movement to save Jews during the Holocaust. Gino would travel around the countryside of Italy transporting forged documents in the frame of his bicycle, at great personal risk.
This important revelation about Bartali was recently brought to the public’s attention in a book co-authored by Andres McConnon. McConnn was the featured guest speaker last Tuesday night, July 30th at Chabad Lubavitch of Markham where he told this incredible story to a packed crowd of close to 300 people, jammed into the synagogue with standing room only for many listeners.
Andres Mcconnon told the crowd about his painstaking research and about how he travelled around the globe to interview survivors and members of the Italian underground.
Rabbi Avraham Plotkin, Rabbi of Chabad Markham, underscored the importance of finding heroes in that otherwise dark part of human history to give us hope in the future of humanity. He also discussed the importance of uncovering heroes for our children and especially in the area of sports, where many of their heroes have been recently discredited.
The Rabbi presented McConnon an award for bringing the world’s attention to the heroism of Bartali during the Holocaust.
The program ended with a Q&A session and a book signing opportunity for all who attended.
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and Rabbi Plotkin sure knows how to pick em’ – great speaker – timely, innovative topic – it hit the “Jewish Spot” for sure.
what a kiddush hashem