Meet Renata Faccincani della Torre, the 21-year-old Italian resistance leader who ran a secret Milan safehouse at Stazione Goldoni during WW2.
From forging papers to skiing POWs to safety in Switzerland, she defied the Nazis.
This is her incredible story:
(🧵)
From forging papers to skiing POWs to safety in Switzerland, she defied the Nazis.
This is her incredible story:
(🧵)
The centre of clandestine operations for Northern Italy in WW2 was run from headquarters in the centre of Milan at Via Carlo Goldoni 19; the home of the aristocratic family Faccincani della Torre.
At the centre of the clandestine operations was the 21-year-old daughter Renata, stunningly attractive and with a university education.
She was born in April 1921 to a family that had once ruled the area for centuries. Her father was credited with being one of the first people to bring frozen food into Italy and had farms in Bulgaria and Hungary – all lost during the Second World War. He was a Colonel in the Alpine regiment and was sent home from the Russian front because he was dying of cancer.
(continued)
At the centre of the clandestine operations was the 21-year-old daughter Renata, stunningly attractive and with a university education.
She was born in April 1921 to a family that had once ruled the area for centuries. Her father was credited with being one of the first people to bring frozen food into Italy and had farms in Bulgaria and Hungary – all lost during the Second World War. He was a Colonel in the Alpine regiment and was sent home from the Russian front because he was dying of cancer.
(continued)
His wife Ida was known for being tough, resilient, and an ardent anti-Fascist. She spoke numerous languages, ensuring that her children, Renata and Gianfranco, were fluent in German, French, English, and Spanish.
During the war, Gianfranco was taken away and his whereabouts remained unknown; it was later discovered that he had been killed by the Germans in Piedmont in Northern Italy.
Between 1942 and 1943, Renata was an Italian resistance worker, risking her life to aid the Allies. She became the head of the Milan station, known in clandestine circles as the Stazione Goldoni.
(continued)
During the war, Gianfranco was taken away and his whereabouts remained unknown; it was later discovered that he had been killed by the Germans in Piedmont in Northern Italy.
Between 1942 and 1943, Renata was an Italian resistance worker, risking her life to aid the Allies. She became the head of the Milan station, known in clandestine circles as the Stazione Goldoni.
(continued)
She was perhaps the person least expected to head operations, and had not appeared to her family to be a person to take risks.
‘She was shy and very academic, destined to become a lawyer had the war not intervened,’ her daughter Vanessa Clewes recalled in conversation. ‘But in fact, she was perfect because her youth and innocence meant the Nazis never suspected her until they arrested her towards the end of the war.’
From Stazione Goldoni, she operated a safehouse for couriers, agents, and anyone who needed immediate shelter from the Nazis.
Years later, after the war, her daughter asked her: Why did she do it? Renata shrugged her shoulders and replied: ‘It was the right thing to do.’
(continued)
‘She was shy and very academic, destined to become a lawyer had the war not intervened,’ her daughter Vanessa Clewes recalled in conversation. ‘But in fact, she was perfect because her youth and innocence meant the Nazis never suspected her until they arrested her towards the end of the war.’
From Stazione Goldoni, she operated a safehouse for couriers, agents, and anyone who needed immediate shelter from the Nazis.
Years later, after the war, her daughter asked her: Why did she do it? Renata shrugged her shoulders and replied: ‘It was the right thing to do.’
(continued)
Vanessa Clewes comments: ‘My mother had an incredibly strong sense of what was right and wrong that came from her strict upbringing. But I still find it astonishing that at the age of only 21 she took on such enormous risks. My family knew that she helped anyone who needed to escape from Italy, including Italian anti-Fascists and Jewish refugees. Just how deeply she was involved as the actual head of the station, I was not aware until the research for this book. It places my mother’s bravery in a whole new light for us.’
Renata was working with the Resistance long before Fritz Molden (an agent she worked with) arrived in Italy. This helped Molden when he needed to link with the partisans operating in northern Italy on the Swiss border as Renata was able to contact them in just two days.
(continued)
Renata was working with the Resistance long before Fritz Molden (an agent she worked with) arrived in Italy. This helped Molden when he needed to link with the partisans operating in northern Italy on the Swiss border as Renata was able to contact them in just two days.
(continued)
Molden’s own life was in danger. He was soon on the SS and Abwehr’s wanted list and a hunt was on for his arrest. He arrived unannounced at Via Goldoni one day, operating under the alias of Luigi Brentini, with just five lire in his pocket.
Renata gave him money and forged papers. Molden had contacts too in the German Armaments and War Production department who gave him 50,000 German marks for future operations.
The Stazione Goldoni held a special place in his heart and he wrote about it with affection: ‘The Via Goldoni with the Faccincanis and their friends, Lori Possanner and her little world, Franz Otting and many others in Milan – these were to provide the firm stanchion for the nerve-racking wire I had to walk between the Allied and German camps, between Switzerland and Vienna ... The Via Goldoni spelt home, security, warmth and affection ... I had established bonds of sympathy and esteem which nothing could now sever. The Goldoni station had about it a permanence that would outlast war.’
(continued)
Renata gave him money and forged papers. Molden had contacts too in the German Armaments and War Production department who gave him 50,000 German marks for future operations.
The Stazione Goldoni held a special place in his heart and he wrote about it with affection: ‘The Via Goldoni with the Faccincanis and their friends, Lori Possanner and her little world, Franz Otting and many others in Milan – these were to provide the firm stanchion for the nerve-racking wire I had to walk between the Allied and German camps, between Switzerland and Vienna ... The Via Goldoni spelt home, security, warmth and affection ... I had established bonds of sympathy and esteem which nothing could now sever. The Goldoni station had about it a permanence that would outlast war.’
(continued)
With Renata’s help, the partisans smuggled Fritz Molden across the border near Mendrisio.
Renata accompanied him on his escape as they first took a train to Varese, then a branch line towards Porto Ceresio on Lake Lugano. They alighted two stops before Porto Ceresio and walked into a small inn where they waited for their rendezvous – two partisans who would take Molden over the frontier.
Renata and Molden parted, and she took the train back to Milan. Molden narrowly avoided Italian police patrols and succeeded in getting over the barbed wire fence of the border.
From the HQ at Via Carlo Goldoni 19, Renata continued to help British troops who had been captured by Italian Fascists and subsequently escaped.
(continued)
Renata accompanied him on his escape as they first took a train to Varese, then a branch line towards Porto Ceresio on Lake Lugano. They alighted two stops before Porto Ceresio and walked into a small inn where they waited for their rendezvous – two partisans who would take Molden over the frontier.
Renata and Molden parted, and she took the train back to Milan. Molden narrowly avoided Italian police patrols and succeeded in getting over the barbed wire fence of the border.
From the HQ at Via Carlo Goldoni 19, Renata continued to help British troops who had been captured by Italian Fascists and subsequently escaped.
(continued)
Hidden behind huge cupboards and curtains in her mother’s large dressing room was a secret printing press, forged passports, and papers for Allied POWs.
She charmed her way through society – discreet and quiet, whilst still running dangerous missions for Molden.
As an expert skier and ski jumper, she personally guided groups of Allied POWs over the border into Switzerland via remote parts of the mountain ranges.
On her way back from one such escort, she was kidnapped by angry and frightened deserters hiding in the mountains. Her daughter recalls: ‘Held in a remote hut in the Alps, Renata feared being raped and for her life. She kept the men talking about their female relatives: wives, sisters and children to remind them of home. It worked and she survived.’
(continued)
She charmed her way through society – discreet and quiet, whilst still running dangerous missions for Molden.
As an expert skier and ski jumper, she personally guided groups of Allied POWs over the border into Switzerland via remote parts of the mountain ranges.
On her way back from one such escort, she was kidnapped by angry and frightened deserters hiding in the mountains. Her daughter recalls: ‘Held in a remote hut in the Alps, Renata feared being raped and for her life. She kept the men talking about their female relatives: wives, sisters and children to remind them of home. It worked and she survived.’
(continued)
Her work for the Allies went further because, being somewhat exotic in her youthfulness and a stunning beautiful blond, she could pass off as an Aryan German.
She was bilingual and could quietly charm her way into the centre of German operations with her fluency in perfect German.
She arrived at German headquarters in Milan one day, pretending to be a German and gained access to photograph documents; intelligence which she passed to the OSS.
(continued)
She was bilingual and could quietly charm her way into the centre of German operations with her fluency in perfect German.
She arrived at German headquarters in Milan one day, pretending to be a German and gained access to photograph documents; intelligence which she passed to the OSS.
(continued)
Renata also photographed electricity installations and passed them to the resistance to blow up in night operations. Whilst there was generally a reluctance to discuss details of her wartime work, Renata did share some stories.
Until now, these have remained largely within the family, unpublished for over 70 years, with the exception of an obituary for Renata in The Times and Observer.
Her friend Nam de Beaufort corroborated these stories to the family, for Nam had worked with Renata in some clandestine activities for the Allies.
(continued...ending)
Until now, these have remained largely within the family, unpublished for over 70 years, with the exception of an obituary for Renata in The Times and Observer.
Her friend Nam de Beaufort corroborated these stories to the family, for Nam had worked with Renata in some clandestine activities for the Allies.
(continued...ending)
If you were captivated by Renata Faccincani della Torre’s inspiring story and are passionate about Second World War history, please consider following me @DrHelenFry, for more educational threads like this one.
Let's explore WW2 history together!
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Let's explore WW2 history together!
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