They were born into a family of small farmers, with four other siblings. The family moved to Isola della Scala, where the two brothers attended school and enrolled in scientific high school. Together, they matured the vocation to the apostolate, both among young students and in the parish, and became active animators in Catholic Action, where they immediately assumed important positions.
Their apostolic activity, from meetings to catechism school, is tireless and does not stop even in the face of obstacles posed by the regime. Both mature a convinced anti-fascism and courageously testify to their faith, wearing the badge, praying the rosary. After high school, the two brothers enrolled in the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics: Gedeone at the University of Bologna, Flavio at that of Padua. After 8 September 1943, called to arms, the two desert and engage in partisan resistance, without resorting to arms, collaborating in an information and sabotage service, close to the populations tried by the conflict.
On the night of November 22, 1944, in Salizzole, where they had taken refuge with relatives, they were arrested by the black brigades and transferred to the extermination camp of Flossenburg, in upper Bavaria. Their political internee numbers were KZ 34566 and KZ 34565. Gideon soon fell ill with bronchitis. Even as prisoners they pray and comfort others. After a few weeks of torment, they ended their noble existence with invocations to the Virgin: Gideon on March 18, Passion Sunday, was twenty-five and Flavio on April 1945, XNUMX, the Easter feast, was twenty-eight; united to Christ, as in life, also in passion and death.
