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A park in the heart of Florence was named in honor of Wanda Lattes and Albert (Aaron) Nirenstein in a ceremony on Monday.
The two were a Jewish couple who resisted the Nazis during the Holocaust and became central figures in the Florentine intellectual scene.
The picturesque park, near the famous Church of Santa Croce, includes a grassy area, a playground and a small community center for children and the elderly.
Trumpeters dressed in official Florentine costume performed during the ceremony and the mayor of Florence, along with a long list of dignitaries, colleagues and family members, spoke about the couple’s film-worthy life .
Wanda adopted a non-Jewish surname, Latansi, and her role was to convey information by bicycle. Towards the end of the German occupation, Lattes became responsible for a clandestine network intended to treat the wounded partisans, in particular during the bombardment of Florence during the dramatic German retreat. She also helped her family find refuge during Nazi and Fascist persecution.
While Wanda’s parents survived the war, several family members were killed and Wanda’s sister, Rirì, married a famous survivor, Nedo Fiano.
The dedication ceremony of a central Florence park named after Jewish couple Wanda Lattes and Albert (Aaron) Nirenstein on September 20, 2021. (ABIGAIL KATZ)
Albert (Aaron) Nirenstein, ultimately Alberto, was born in Baranov, Poland in 1916 and traveled to then Mandate Palestine in 1936 as a young member of Hashomer Hatzair. Nirenstein, along with two of his sisters, helped found Kibbutz Mishmar Hasharon. His father, brother, stepmother and four young stepsisters were all killed by the Nazis in the Sobibor death camp.
During the war years, Nirenstein joined the British Army’s Jewish Brigade. The brigade ended up in Florence and Nirenstein set out to find local Jews. While also a communist, he was introduced to Lattes and the two fell in love. The couple stayed in Florence after the war and had three daughters, Fiamma, Susanna and Simona.
The couple also embarked on remarkable careers, her as a journalist and he as a scholar on the Holocaust.
Wanda became one of the first female journalists in Italy, along with the famous Oriana Fallaci. She developed a passion for Florentine art and culture and has become a well-known cultural writer and editor.
Alberto began researching the Holocaust and traveled to Poland in 1950 to research documents on the Warsaw Ghetto. The Stalinist regime in Poland did not let him out of the country and he remained stranded there for four years. The couple remained united, however, and they wrote a whole collection of letters including descriptions of Communist seclusion and persecution and love letters.
Jewish craftswoman, journalist and intellectual Wanda Lattes. (credit: WITH THE AUTHORIZATION OF ABIGAIL KATZ) 
Albert (Aaron) Nirenstein, said Alberto, Israeli pioneer, soldier of the Jewish Brigade, Holocaust historian, journalist and intellectual. (credit: WITH THE AUTHORIZATION OF ABIGAIL KATZ)Alberto managed to get messages across warning Wanda and their two daughters to stay in Florence, as Poland was a dangerous place both due to the regime and widespread anti-Semitism – when he visited his hometown, one told Alberto not to stay the night because the locals would kill him.
Alberto was eventually allowed to return home after Stalin’s death in 1953 and brought his files with him. The recordings were published in 1958 and have become a major piece of Holocaust scholarship. Alberto also worked as an Italian correspondent for the Israeli newspaper Al Hamishmar, under the Hebrew name of Aaron Nir.
“He was very candid about the Holocaust,†she said. “He would tell people stories about what happened in the war and people would end up in tears.”
The couple became a focal point of culture in Florence and welcomed many intellectuals, artists and cultural figures to their home, some of whom spoke at the ceremony. They were also staunch Zionists, and their dealings with Judaism, Zionism and their frequent visits to Israel were an integral part of their lives. Two of the couple’s three daughters, Fiamma and Simona, currently reside in Israel.
Fiamma was a Member of Parliament in Italy before making her Aliya in 2013 and was appointed in 2015 by then Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s Ambassador to Italy. She is currently Senior Fellow at the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs (JCPA) and editorial collaborator for a number of Italian and English-speaking media. The second daughter, Susanna, is also a journalist and Simona is a psychotherapist.
Alberto died in 2007 and Wanda in 2018. The ceremony in Florence was a celebration of the couple’s remarkable life.
“The park was very busy, it was a very warm, very lively atmosphere,†said Simona. “It is rare for a Jewish couple to receive such honors,” she added.
“It was really moving, the dignitaries spoke and people were really crying,” said Abigail Katz, daughter of Simona and granddaughter of Wanda and Alberto. To post.
“We hope that the children will come to play in the park, and that it will remain alive and vibrant. That’s what [my] grandmother and grandfather would have liked, and they would surely be happy to know that the place that bears their name is full of life and children, “she added.
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