, ...) is a Jewish Italian lawyer and was the chairman of DELASEM

DELASEM

Delegation for the Assistance of Jewish Emigrants or DELASEM, was a Jewish resistance organization that worked in Italy between 1939 and 1947...

, an exponent of the Jewish resistance. In 1935, Valobra was a leading member of the Jewish community of Genoa, and was the keynote speaker at the new synagogue

Synagogue

A synagogue is a Jewish house of prayer. This use of the Greek term synagogue originates in the Septuagint where it sometimes translates the Hebrew word for assembly, kahal...

 in the city, stating: "The pride of being able to raise a temple ... is nourished in us by the political climate in which we live, ... and exaltation of sacrifice, that returned pride unto Italians themselves and the internal order which is essential to becoming a nation."
In October 1938, after the passage of racial laws in Italy and the flight of Jews fleeing after the “annexation” of Austria

Austria

Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...

 by the Third Reich, Valobra, on recommendation of the Union of Italian Jewish Communities, of which he was vice-president, was commissioned to organize the relief activities and coordinate the Jewish refugees stay in Italy.

DELASEM

On December 1, 1939 an organization called DELASEM

DELASEM

Delegation for the Assistance of Jewish Emigrants or DELASEM, was a Jewish resistance organization that worked in Italy between 1939 and 1947...

 (Delegation for the Assistance of Emigrants), was founded by the Union of Italian Jewish Communities and Valobra was called to its leadership. The purpose of the association was to help expatriation and survival for Jewish refugees both interned or confined and to those who had avoided internment.

Valobra was the protagonist of memorable actions for saving Jewish children: in the spring of 1942 he went Ljubljana

Ljubljana

Ljubljana is the capital of Slovenia and its largest city. It is the centre of the City Municipality of Ljubljana. It is located in the centre of the country in the Ljubljana Basin, and is a mid-sized city of some 270,000 inhabitants...

, Yugoslavia

Yugoslavia

Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....

 where he knew there was a group of Eastern European Jewish children who survived their parents murder by Nazis. Valobra picked up 42 children and managed to transport them during March–April 1943 to Nonantola to "Villa Emma" near Modena

Modena

Modena is a city and comune on the south side of the Po Valley, in the Province of Modena in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy....

. At Nonantola they were hidden and protected by local people during the Nazi roundups until Valobra was able to provide for their expatriation to Switzerland

Switzerland

Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....

.

Relations with the Catholic Church

By September 8, 1943, the German occupation setup the puppet state Italian Social Republic

Italian Social Republic

The Italian Social Republic was a puppet state of Nazi Germany led by the "Duce of the Nation" and "Minister of Foreign Affairs" Benito Mussolini and his Republican Fascist Party. The RSI exercised nominal sovereignty in northern Italy but was largely dependent on the Wehrmacht to maintain control...

 and ordered the specific round up of Jews. Valobra, helped by Raffaele Cantoni

Raffaele Cantoni

Raffaele Cantoni was an anti-fascist Italian Jew who is best known for his efforts, perhaps daring, in saving Italian Jews from the Holocaust. He was a DELASEM executive before and during the German occupation of World War II. He was also President of the pro-Zionist UCEI or Union of Italian...

 and Massimo Teglio, made contact with Cardinal Pietro Boetto

Pietro Boetto

Pietro Boetto, SJ was an Italian Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church who served as Archbishop of Genoa from 1938 until his death, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1935.-Biography:...

 of the Catholic Church, who headed the diocese of Genoa, and whom instructed his secretary Father Francesco Repetto

Francesco Repetto

Monsignor Francesco Repetto was an Italian priest and librarian. He is honored by Jews as a Righteous Among the Nations for his leading role in the clandestine DELASEM organization, which contributed to the saving of thousands of Jews during the Holocaust in Italy during the German occupation.-...

 that the work of DELASEM would continue and would provide material assistance and shelter to persecuted Jews, both Italians and foreigners.
In November 1943, after the news about the deportation of Jews from Genoa and the community of Montecatini

Montecatini

- Places in Italy :* Montecatini Terme, health resort in Tuscany* Montecatini Val di Cecina, village and mining town to the south of Pisa*Montecatini, hamlet in the comune of San Martino in Rio...

, Valobra was hidden by the Bishop of Chiavari

Chiavari

Chiavari is a town and comune on the Italian Riviera in the Province of Genoa, region of Liguria. It is situated near the mouth of the Entella River, in the center of a fertile plain surrounded by mountains except on the southwest, where it comes down to the Mediterranean Sea...

, and had to flee to Switzerland, where he continued to manage DELASEM until the end of the war.

Acknowledgements

The Valobra name is enshrined in the "Book of the Righteous" (or Golden book) in Jerusalem.