Even before the Cardinal Bea Centre was established, there were people who already supported it. The world of Judaism and of the Jewish people has always been especially dear to Mrs. Gisèle d’Ailly van Waterschoot van der Gracht, a Catholic and – as she herself has often pointed out – precisely because she is a Catholic. This is why, some years ago, when the Gregorian University still had no Centre specifically dedicated to Judaic studies, she made a considerable donation in favour of indepth studies on Judaism and still today her donation covers a small part of our expenses. However, it isn’t only her material generosity that makes Gisèle d’Ailly van Waterschoot van der Gracht so dear to us.

She does not even remember her benefaction – and this too further confirms the nobility of her soul in addition to that of her descent. At the end of January, I had the opportunity – I might even say the “good fortune” – to meet Gisèle in her home in Amsterdam, where I had gone specifically for that reason. Gisèle, who will be 97 in September, has succeeded in preserving her appeal as an artist and the gentle charisma which is typical of people skilled at blending courage with graciousness to ensure the fulfilment of their goals. As a painter, Gisèle is known in Amsterdam for her canvasses and, even more, for her stained-glass windows, especially in the chapel of the renowned Beguinage (www.begijnhofamsterdam.nl) and in the Jesuit church (www.krijtberg.nl). She is well known abroad as well and, above all, much loved and admired in view of the generosity and selflessness she showed during the German occupation, from 1942 to 1945, in hiding and caring for – in her apartment at Herengracht 401 – writers, painters and young artists, mainly Jewish, persecuted by the Nazis.

During the darkest years of the past century, the apartment overlooking one of the canals that give the city its unmistakable character, was to turn into a commune where a group of friends, united by an increasingly strong bond of solidarity, were to conquer the anguish caused by the Nazi threat by sharing their creativity. At Herengracht 401, Gisèle and her exiled German friend Wolfang Frommel, a poet and a journalist, supported their persecuted friends through the nourishment provided by art: day in, day out, painting, writing, the reading of poetry and philosophy was to transform what might have been an experience of death into a deep sharing of life. Less than a mile away, Anna Frank, when feeling lonely, entrusted her adolescent fears and dreams to the pages of a diary.

There were, during that time, moments of great anxiety. One day, when because of a sudden check carried out by the Gestapo some of Gisèle’s guests hadn’t had time to seek the shelter of their hideouts (one of them had the chimney, another the attic, another still the piano…), an officer had spent some time looking very sternly at the papers they had given him. With ill-concealed sarcasm, in the end he said: “Next time, try to get better forged papers”. Was it only pity that moved the officer or had he been affected also by Gisèle, who had greeted him with brave amiability? Gisèle must have shown even greater courage and skilful charm when, after one of her protégés had unwisely gone out into the besieged city and been arrested, she went to see the head of the secret police and obtained permission to visit her friend in concentration camp.

Soon the Herengracht hideaway came to be called Castrum Peregrini (“Pilgrim’s Castle”), like the Templars’ impregnable fortress in Haifa: the castle was meant to be a symbol of the safety of shelter provided by friendship while the pilgrim symbolized the mind’s freedom. For many years now it has also been a foundation (www.castrumperegrini.nl) which, promoting the ideals of freedom, friendship and culture, has established a close network of international relations. Gisèle still lives there: and in fact, on the day of my visit, I attended the inauguration of a new hall for the foundation, in an apartment next to hers. She herself welcomed her guests with a short but vibrant address. We can only thank her for all that she has done and continues to do even by her mere presence.