He saved 3 children from the Nazis and found them after 70 – News

On Monday, Martin Adler, a 97-year-old American veteran of World War II, met Giulio, Mafalda and Giuliana Naldi, three brothers he saved from the Nazis in 1944.

The reunion took place at Bologna airport, after a 20-hour journey from Boca Raton (Florida). Then, as he did when he was a 20-year-old soldier in the town of Monterenzio, he handed out American chocolate bars.

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The first time they met was in 1944. The three little brothers, aged 3 to 6, were hidden in a huge wicker basket where their mother had left them when the soldiers approached.

Adler believed the house was empty, so he pointed his machine gun at the cart when he heard a noise, thinking that a German soldier was hiding inside.

“The mother came out and stood in front of my gun to stop me firing,” Adler said. “He put his stomach against the gun and shouted, ‘Bambini! Bambini! Bambini!’ hitting my chest? he reminded himself.

“She was a real heroine, the mother, not me. The mother was the real heroine. Can you imagine what it’s like to stand in front of a gun and yell ‘Boys! No !” ? noted.

According to Adler’s daughter, Rachelle Donley, her father still trembles when he remembers that he was seconds to open fire on the basket.

Giuliana Naldi, the youngest, is the only one who remembers the episode: “When we got out of the basket, we saw two soldiers. They laughed, happy not to have fired,” she said.

She, on the other hand, didn’t quite understand how close they were to danger. “We were not afraid of anything,” he said.

However, remember the chocolate the soldier gave them, which came in blue and white packaging.

During lockdown for the pandemic, Donley decided to try and locate the children in the old black and white photo, starting with the social media groups of North American veterans.

Eventually he was able to track down the person who took the photo, Italian journalist Matteo Incerti, and after posting the photo in a local newspaper, he tracked down the brothers.

Adler will visit Italy and spend time in the city where he was stationed, before traveling to Florence, Naples and Rome, where he hopes to meet Pope Francis.