Ezra’s father slipped his watch to her along with a note for her mother because he believed he was about to be killed was awarded the Star of Italy for her heroic actions in her native Italy during the Second World War Ezra intervened and saved fellow villagers from execution by the Nazis She was awarded the prestigious medal after her son Mark wrote to the Italian authorities to inform them of her actions that day Thirty-eight villagers from Capella di Scorze had been gathered and locked in a cowshed by Nazi soldiers The villagers were understandably worried as the soldiers had already murdered 31 men in a nearby town The Germans were seeking revenge after several soldiers were wounded in an attack The villagers were warned by partisans before the soldiers’ arrival and instructed to close their shutters so their windows would not break from the explosion Ezra pleaded with a German officer to show mercy to the villagers She had no trouble communicating with the officer as she had lived in Austria with her family for a number of years and could speak fluent German telling him that the villagers had no knowledge of the attack and that they were all innocent The officer threatened to shoot her as well if he found out she was lying The Italian partisans had already hidden the evidence of their involvement so the officer let them go after telling them that they owed their lives to Ezra The next day the Germans were forced to flee the village as the Allies arrived to liberate it recently wrote a letter to the Italian embassy to inform them of his mother’s actions during the war “If my mother had not intervened they would all have been killed,” he said The ambassador then presented her with the Star of Italy which is awarded to British and Commonwealth forces that served in the Italian Campaign (1943-1945) Ezra’s father was one of the men rounded up She told her mother that she needed to do something Most of the men were farmers who were only concerned about their fields and cattle So she ran after an officer who took her to the commandant After she begged him not to kill the men and told him repeatedly that they were innocent the commandant lined the men up in front of a firing squad and told them that she had vouched for their innocence He then said that if he found that she was lying but they had already buried their partisan armbands in the cowshed the commandant set them free with a warning that he would destroy the entire village if there were any more attacks British troops arrived and liberated the village Read another story from us: Book Details Crucial Role of the British SAS in Italy During WWII Ezra took a job as a translator for the Mayor’s office in Mestre The two were married in Venice in 1949 and then moved to Hove When she went back to the village 25 years ago Gabriella Ezra was recognized by a villager and treated as a hero with a meal in the town square Ian Harvey is one of the authors writing for WAR HISTORY ONLINE