Patricia O'GormanPhD

Italian Franca Viola was just 15 when she became engaged to 23-year-old Filippo Melodia. However, Melodia's involvement in criminal activities led to Viola breaking off the relationship. After Melodia's release from prison, he sought to reconcile with Viola, who had already entered into a relationship with another man. Enraged by her refusal to take him back, Melodia orchestrated Viola's kidnapping in the early hours of December 26, 1965. She was held against her will for eight days and subjected to sexual assault by Melodia during this time. During this period in Italy, rape was considered a crime against public morality( and not against the individual), and it was customary for rapists to marry their victims. Many rape victims succumbed to this tradition due to societal pressure, as it was considered dishonorable for a woman not to marry the man who took her virginity. Furthermore, rapists were forgiven if they married their victims. Melodia expected Viola to yield to this pressure, but she vehemently refused to marry him. As a result, Melodia was found guilty and sentenced to ten years in prison. Viola's resilience sparked a revolution that ultimately led to the abolition of the law allowing rapists to be forgiven through marriage.

This is Adolfo Kaminsky. At the age of 17, he became a member of the French resistance following the tragic loss of his mother to the Nazis in 1941. Throughout World War 2, he dedicated most of his time to operating in an underground laboratory located in Paris, where he skillfully fabricated passports. His remarkable efforts are believed to have safeguarded the lives of approximately 14,000 French Jews. "I'll always remember our biggest request for documents: 300 children in 3 days. It seemed impossible. I had to remain awake for as long as I could, fighting against sleep. The math was simple. I could produce 30 fake documents in an hour. If I allowed myself to sleep for even one hour, 30 lives would be at risk. My greatest fear was making a technical mistake, overlooking any small detail. The fate of a human being depended on each document. So, I toiled relentlessly until exhaustion overcame me. Upon waking up, I resumed my work. There was no room for us to pause." Kaminsky passed away in January 9th, 2023 at the age of 97.