Cristina Girardi, Righteous Among the Nations

Cristina Girardi (1877–1953) lived in Richiardi, a hamlet of Groscavallo, in the upper Val Grande di Lanzo. After September 8, 1943, the Jewish doctor Simone Teich Alasia, who wore the partisan uniform of the XX Garibaldi Division to escape persecution, had taken refuge in that small mountain village.
As a doctor, he was entrusted with organizing a partisan hospital to treat the wounded of the Liberation Struggle. The hospital was set up in the premises of the village elementary school, a short distance from Cristina Girardi’s home. In the small hamlet, Teich Alasia was known to many: especially to the Rapelli family, known as “Saraiè,” and to teacher Teresa Borello. Along with Cristina Girardi, they had cared for him and offered him protection, especially after September 1944, when the Germans regained control of the valley, ending the experience of the Partisan Republic of the Lanzo Valleys.
In January 1945, the Germans, aware of his presence, showed up in Richiardi. The residents denied having seen him, while the doctor was hiding in Cristina Girardi’s house. Shortly before the soldiers entered to search the house, she had him take refuge in a niche hidden behind a closet. The soldiers searched the house but were unable to find him, and thus the doctor was saved.
The episode, recounted by Teich Alasia himself in his memoirs, did not mention the name of the woman who had protected him. Only in the summer of 2020 did the testimony of three elderly women from the village – Caterina and Bruna Rapelli and Giuseppina Girardi – prove decisive in Yad Vashem’s recognition of Cristina Girardi as Righteous Among the Nations.
After official greetings from Dario Disegni, President of the Jewish Community of Turin, Michela Favaro, Deputy Mayor of the City of Turin, and Donato Giovanni Cafagna, Prefect of Turin, there was an in-depth explanation of the events by Andrea Parodi, a journalist who has dedicated himself to the matter and who significantly assisted in the process of obtaining Yad va Shem’s certification as Righteous Among the Nations.
Caterina Rapelli attended the ceremony, while Giuseppina Girardi, Giusta’s great-granddaughter and now approaching 98, was unable to attend.
Anna Maria Cambursano, Giuseppina Girardi’s daughter, was present to collect the medal on Monday, March 2, 2026, on behalf of the family and in memory of an act of courage and humanity that had remained unnamed for many years.