The Sanctuary Outskirts of Rome: How the De Luigi Family Saved the Stroms

The bond that saved the Strom family began long before the German occupation of Rome, rooted in a relationship between a dedicated doctor and his patient. Dr. Alfred Strom and his wife, Perla Strom-Rosenzweig, were Polish-born Jewish medical students who immigrated to Italy in 1930 to study at the University of Padova. After graduating, they settled in Rome, where Alfred’s brother, Davide, also a physician, lived. Alfred established a private clinic and successfully obtained Italian citizenship. However, the rise of fascism upended their lives. In December 1938, the Italian government enacted anti-Semitic "Racial Laws," stripping the Stroms of their citizenship and banning them from legal employment. Forced into underground medical work, their lives grew increasingly precarious. By 1941, the family had been banished from Rome to the Cascia area of Umbria under strict police supervision. Even there, Alfred secretly treated local patients, who paid him in food to keep his family alive.

The family eventually returned to Rome, but by 1943, a German invasion was imminent. Sensing the escalating danger, a sympathetic local policeman gave Perla a quiet hint to "disappear." While Perla evaded immediate capture, Alfred, their four-year-old son Roberto, and their newborn daughter Lilian lived in hiding with Davide, performing forced labour under constant threat of deportation. In June 1943, a former patient named Donatello de Luigi reached out to Alfred. Donatello, a former government emissary to Ethiopia, had returned to Rome in 1941 and rented a magnificent villa on the outskirts of the city. For two years prior, Alfred had served as Donatello’s personal physician. When Alfred confided the immense distress and terror his family faced under the shadow of German concentration camps, Donatello did not hesitate. He extended an open invitation for the Stroms to seek refuge in his home.

The crisis peaked on September 10, 1943, immediately after German forces occupied Rome and launched brutal roundups of the city's Jewish population. Dr. Alfred Strom fled directly to Donatello’s office to escape the initial sweeps. True to his word, Donatello brought Alfred and Perla into his villa that very day.

For nearly nine months, Donatello and his wife, Zelmira de Luigi, risked their lives to sustain the Stroms. Donatello used his resources to provide food for and even managed to forge Aryan identity papers for Alfred. Despite having a blond, "Aryan" appearance himself, Donatello remained strictly indoors to avoid drawing any suspicion or recognition from the authorities. Zelmira took on immense logistical risks, working closely with Perla to secure a safe placement for her son within a local educational framework, while masking his identity to preserve a semblance of childhood.

The Stroms remained safely concealed within the villa from September 10, 1943, until June 6, 1944, when American General Mark W. Clark entered Rome with Allied troops to liberate the capital. The protective shield provided by Donatello and Zelmira saved the Stroms from the catastrophic fate that befell their community … of the 1,250 Jews rounded up in Rome during that dark period, a mere 15 survived the Nazi extermination camps. Because of the de Luigi family's quiet heroism, the Strom family survived intact.

Historical Timeline:

1930: Alfred Strom and Perla Strom-Rosenzweig immigrate from Poland to Italy to study medicine at the University of Padova.
December 1938: The Italian government enacts anti-Semitic "Racial Laws." The Stroms' citizenship is revoked, and they are barred from legal employment.
1941: The Strom family is forced out of Rome and relocated to Cascia in Umbria under strict police supervision.
1941–1943: Donatello De Luigi returns to Rome from Ethiopia, rents a villa on the city's outskirts, and becomes a patient of Dr. Alfred Strom.
June 1943: Sensing the danger of a German invasion, a local policeman warns Perla Strom to "disappear." Donatello offers his villa as a refuge.
September 8, 1943: Italy signs an armistice with the Allies.
September 10, 1943: German forces occupy Rome and begin rounding up Jewish residents. Alfred and Perla Strom flee to the De Luigi home.
September 1943 – June 1944: Donatello and Zelmira De Luigi shield the Stroms for nearly nine months, securing forged Aryan papers and providing food.
October 16, 1943: The Gestapo conducts a massive raid on the Roman Ghetto, deporting over 1,000 Jews to Auschwitz. The Stroms remain safely hidden.
June 4, 1944: Allied forces liberate Rome.
June 6, 1944: General Mark W. Clark enters the capital with American troops. The Strom family officially emerges from hiding, entirely intact.
Post-War: Dr Strom safely resumes his medical practice in Rome.