The Museum of Memory
The Museum of Memory brings to life the network of allyship and solidarity that sprang up in Assisi during World War II to prevent the Third Reich from rounding up hundreds of Jews. The museum is located within the Vescavado (bishopric), no doubt because of the leading role that the Catholic bishop and local Franciscans played in this effort. As we will remember, the Vescavado was where Francis dramatically abandoned his old life and began his new one. There isn’t much available online about the museum (it doesn’t seem to have a website), but I came across this excerpt from a tourist’s blog.
Visiting Assisi and Meeting Its Saints
… A visit to the Museum of Memory illustrated the culture created by its saints in Assisi.
It focused on the years 1943-44 through the end of WWII. The German war machine directed by Adolf Hitler rolled over Italy as it attempted to conquer the world. It spread its forces throughout the country to control the population.
An Army colonel was put in charge of Assisi. He had been a doctor by profession before the war and was a devout Catholic. Before the arrival of the army, all the churches in Assisi, controlled by their cardinal, had been sheltering Jews from all parts of conquered Europe.
They created a pipeline that moved the fleeing refugees into neutral countries, supplying them with appropriate documents to ensure their safety.
The cardinal, with the help of the German colonel and the town mayor, created a large hospital center for war victims in Assisi.
This led to the city being declared a "hospital city" meaning that Assisi could not be entered by German troops and could not be bombed.
This saved Assisi and many Jews. This event happened 700 years after the death of Francis and Clare, but their influence showed Assisi was still clear in its beliefs, even in those grim times.
We absorbed the influence of Francis and Clare in today's city. We felt like we had travelled with the saints through their lives and could understand how they influenced not just the town, but the world.
We arrived back home feeling our lives had been changed forever.
