REMEMBRANCE DAY: BELA GUTTMANN AND FERDINANDO VALLETTI

MILAN – Today is the Holocaust Memorial Day which means that Milan and all its fans pay their respects to the millions of victims. This event also leads the club to remember two figures in Milan’s history:Bela Guttmann, Milan’s Hungarian coach with Jewish origins who led the team from the 11th of November 1953 to the 14th of February 1955. He left Milan in first place, on the way to its 5th Scudetto.Ferdinando Valletti, who represented Milan from 1941-1944 albeit only in friendlies. He was then taken from Milan Central Station to a concentration camp in Mauthausen and from there to another one in Gusen. He shared a prison cell with Milanese painter Aldo Carpi who made reference to him several times in his diary. Thanks to his previous exploits with the Milan team, he was asked to substitute a player in the SS football team. For this reason he was assigned a new role from the labour camps to working in the kitchens. On the 5th of May, the Allies freed the prisoners and he was able to return home.