On 27 January, Holocaust Memorial Day, the friars of the Basilica of Saint Anthony in Padua will remember their fellow-friar, Fr. Placido Cortese, who was declared Venerable last August. During World War II Fr. Cortese saved hundreds of people, among them Jews, political refugees and allied soldiers from being arrested by the Nazis and the Fascists. Because of these efforts he was kidnapped by the Gestapo, tortured, and then killed in November 1944.
Last year a stolperstein (stumbling block) was dedicated to him near the entrance to the Basilica, on the exact spot where he was kidnapped in October 1944.
The date chosen for the celebration of Holocaust Memorial Day marks the day in which Soviet troops entered Auschwitz concentration camp.
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