Shulim Vogelmann

Shulim Vogelmann was born in 1903 in a small city in Galizia in a typically Ashkenazi atmosphere. After an adolescence impacted by the entire family moving to Vienna during the First World War and also spending a period in Palestine, he joined his brother Mordekhai in Florence where thanks to a Polish Jew, named Leo Samuel Olschki, he found a position at the rabbinical college as a teacher. Olschki owned the Giuntina Typography where Volgelmann would become the director in 1928. He was married to the chief rabbis’ daughter, named Anna Disegni, and in 1935 they welcomed their daughter Sissel.
When the racial laws were enacted in September 1938, Anna was forced to leave her teaching position and little Sissel was no longer allowed to attend school. From September 8, 1943 they sought refuge in Switzerland but were caught and arrested on December 20, 1943. They were sent to San Vittore Prison and on the morning of January 30, 1944 they were sent from the prison to Central Station where they were deported and sent to Auschwitz. As soon as they arrived Shulim was separated from Anna and Sissel, who were immediately killed. He survived thanks to his abilities as a printer. After the war he returned to Florence and devoted himself solely to the Giuntina Typography. He met Albina Mondolfi, who also survived the war but lost her husband. They fell in love and remarried. Giuntina Typography is still a very active publishing house today. It is run by Shulim‘s son Daniel and his grandson, who bears his grandfather‘s name.