1 00:00:04,160 --> 00:00:07,520 Speaker 1: Welcome to Aaron Menke's Cabinet of Curiosities, a production of 2 00:00:07,520 --> 00:00:14,480 Speaker 1: iHeartRadio and Grimm and Mild. Our world is full of 3 00:00:14,560 --> 00:00:18,520 Speaker 1: the unexplainable, and if history is an open book, all 4 00:00:18,560 --> 00:00:22,200 Speaker 1: of these amazing tales are right there on display, just 5 00:00:22,280 --> 00:00:28,920 Speaker 1: waiting for us to explore. Welcome to the Cabinet of Curiosities. 6 00:00:36,720 --> 00:00:39,800 Speaker 1: Everybody remembers the first time they learned to ride a bike. 7 00:00:40,040 --> 00:00:43,000 Speaker 1: They have memories of spending their childhood in the saddle, 8 00:00:43,080 --> 00:00:47,360 Speaker 1: holding those handlebars and cruising around the neighborhood. The bicycle, though, 9 00:00:47,680 --> 00:00:51,600 Speaker 1: wasn't always an instrument of glory for Gino Bartali. In fact, 10 00:00:51,680 --> 00:00:54,360 Speaker 1: it was just a way to get to school. Gino 11 00:00:54,520 --> 00:00:57,800 Speaker 1: was born in nineteen fourteen to a working class family 12 00:00:57,840 --> 00:01:00,680 Speaker 1: in a small village in Tuscany, Italy. By the time 13 00:01:00,720 --> 00:01:02,880 Speaker 1: he was eleven, he needed to find a way to 14 00:01:02,920 --> 00:01:05,560 Speaker 1: get to Florence every day for school. A car was 15 00:01:05,600 --> 00:01:08,280 Speaker 1: out of the question, so Gino saved his money to 16 00:01:08,360 --> 00:01:11,520 Speaker 1: buy his first bike. He quickly fell in love with 17 00:01:11,640 --> 00:01:15,800 Speaker 1: racing through the Tuscan countryside. He started taking cycling seriously, 18 00:01:15,880 --> 00:01:18,600 Speaker 1: and at the age of seventeen, in nineteen thirty one, 19 00:01:18,840 --> 00:01:21,920 Speaker 1: he won his very first bike race. By his twenties, 20 00:01:21,959 --> 00:01:25,280 Speaker 1: all those long bike rides across Tuscany began to pay off. 21 00:01:25,560 --> 00:01:27,960 Speaker 1: In nineteen thirty six, at the age of twenty two, 22 00:01:28,000 --> 00:01:31,360 Speaker 1: he biked twenty one days and over two thousand miles 23 00:01:31,400 --> 00:01:34,880 Speaker 1: to win the Giro Detelia, the biggest bike race in Italy. 24 00:01:35,400 --> 00:01:38,760 Speaker 1: His fame was immediate. Tuscans loved that they could see 25 00:01:38,760 --> 00:01:42,240 Speaker 1: their champion training most days on the same country roads 26 00:01:42,440 --> 00:01:46,119 Speaker 1: that they drove. He cemented his hometown hero status when 27 00:01:46,120 --> 00:01:48,720 Speaker 1: he won the race again in nineteen thirty seven, and 28 00:01:48,800 --> 00:01:51,320 Speaker 1: his fame grew to a fever pitch in nineteen thirty 29 00:01:51,360 --> 00:01:54,120 Speaker 1: eight when he won the biggest bike race in the world, 30 00:01:54,360 --> 00:01:58,160 Speaker 1: the Tour de Frontce. But despite those fans, Gino's achievement 31 00:01:58,280 --> 00:02:01,280 Speaker 1: was not met with national pride. There was no hero's 32 00:02:01,320 --> 00:02:04,440 Speaker 1: welcome when he came home to Italy, no ceremony or 33 00:02:04,480 --> 00:02:08,239 Speaker 1: gala in his honor, Because on the national stage right 34 00:02:08,320 --> 00:02:12,000 Speaker 1: as he proved the athletic might of Italians, Gino refused 35 00:02:12,040 --> 00:02:16,880 Speaker 1: to dedicate his win to Benito Mussolini. Fascist dictator. Mussolini 36 00:02:16,919 --> 00:02:20,080 Speaker 1: had ruled Italy for sixteen years. He had modeled his 37 00:02:20,120 --> 00:02:23,320 Speaker 1: government on the Nazi Party in nearby Germany, and in 38 00:02:23,440 --> 00:02:26,760 Speaker 1: nineteen thirty eight, the same year as Gino's win, he 39 00:02:26,880 --> 00:02:30,400 Speaker 1: signed Italy's version of the Nuremberg Laws. The freedoms of 40 00:02:30,400 --> 00:02:34,040 Speaker 1: Italian Jews were severely limited, and these laws would eventually 41 00:02:34,120 --> 00:02:38,640 Speaker 1: let Italy deport them to Nazi concentration camps. By refusing 42 00:02:38,680 --> 00:02:42,040 Speaker 1: to dedicate his Tour de France medal to Mussolini, Gino 43 00:02:42,280 --> 00:02:46,280 Speaker 1: was publicly indicating his disapproval. Over the next few years, 44 00:02:46,280 --> 00:02:49,640 Speaker 1: his distaste for the fascists drove him to action. Italy 45 00:02:49,760 --> 00:02:52,799 Speaker 1: entered World War II in nineteen forty, joining the Nazis 46 00:02:52,840 --> 00:02:56,639 Speaker 1: against the Allies. By nineteen forty three, Mussolini had been 47 00:02:56,680 --> 00:03:01,160 Speaker 1: overthrown and Germany invaded North Italy, including Gino's home province 48 00:03:01,200 --> 00:03:04,880 Speaker 1: of Tuscany, and as a result, the deportation and imprisonment 49 00:03:04,919 --> 00:03:08,320 Speaker 1: of Jewish people was becoming more widespread. Yet at the 50 00:03:08,360 --> 00:03:12,440 Speaker 1: same time, a resistance movement was growing. A network of 51 00:03:12,520 --> 00:03:17,560 Speaker 1: religious leaders, including undercover rabbis, monks, and Catholic archbishops, were 52 00:03:17,560 --> 00:03:21,280 Speaker 1: looking for ways to protect Italian Jewish families from the Nazis, 53 00:03:21,639 --> 00:03:24,919 Speaker 1: and it was one of these resistance members, Florentine Cardinal 54 00:03:25,000 --> 00:03:28,240 Speaker 1: Elia de la Costa, who asked Bartali for help with 55 00:03:28,360 --> 00:03:31,920 Speaker 1: his cover story. As a cycling champion taking cross country 56 00:03:31,960 --> 00:03:35,480 Speaker 1: training rides, he was the perfect spy For the next year. 57 00:03:35,600 --> 00:03:40,000 Speaker 1: Bartali rode back and forth across the countryside, transporting photographs 58 00:03:40,000 --> 00:03:43,440 Speaker 1: of Jewish people to forgers, then bringing fake IDs and 59 00:03:43,520 --> 00:03:47,000 Speaker 1: travel visas back to the families. He distributed funds to 60 00:03:47,040 --> 00:03:50,080 Speaker 1: people in hiding, and even brought one group of refugees 61 00:03:50,120 --> 00:03:53,160 Speaker 1: to the Swiss border hidden in a cart attached to 62 00:03:53,200 --> 00:03:56,200 Speaker 1: his bike. At the same time, he hid a Florentine 63 00:03:56,240 --> 00:04:01,440 Speaker 1: Jewish family in his basement. At first, travels weren't questioned. 64 00:04:01,680 --> 00:04:05,000 Speaker 1: Even when he was stopped by Fascist police and German soldiers, 65 00:04:05,200 --> 00:04:07,680 Speaker 1: he would insist that they not touch his bike, as 66 00:04:07,680 --> 00:04:11,040 Speaker 1: it was perfectly calibrated for him. They agreed, and the 67 00:04:11,080 --> 00:04:15,200 Speaker 1: documents hidden in his bike frame and handlebars remained undiscovered. 68 00:04:15,680 --> 00:04:19,240 Speaker 1: As time went on. However, even famous cyclist Gino Bartali 69 00:04:19,320 --> 00:04:23,040 Speaker 1: fell under suspicion. He was questioned in the La Villa Triste, 70 00:04:23,160 --> 00:04:26,920 Speaker 1: a government building in Florence where Fascist officials tortured prisoners. 71 00:04:27,360 --> 00:04:31,040 Speaker 1: Florence was finally freed of Nazi occupation on August eleventh 72 00:04:31,040 --> 00:04:34,080 Speaker 1: of nineteen forty four. As the war came to an end, 73 00:04:34,400 --> 00:04:36,920 Speaker 1: Gino never told anyone about what he had done for 74 00:04:36,960 --> 00:04:40,679 Speaker 1: the Jewish families of Italy. Instead, he focused on training, 75 00:04:40,920 --> 00:04:44,159 Speaker 1: overcoming the malnourishment he suffered during the war to win 76 00:04:44,200 --> 00:04:47,240 Speaker 1: the Tour de France one last time in nineteen forty eight. 77 00:04:48,000 --> 00:04:51,520 Speaker 1: After Gino died in twenty ten, his story finally came 78 00:04:51,560 --> 00:04:55,320 Speaker 1: to light. In twenty thirteen, the World Holocaust Remembrance Center 79 00:04:55,600 --> 00:04:59,239 Speaker 1: awarded him the title Righteous among the Nations, an honor 80 00:04:59,279 --> 00:05:02,200 Speaker 1: he shares with Oscar Schindler and others who risked their 81 00:05:02,240 --> 00:05:06,159 Speaker 1: lives to save Jewish people during the war. After his death, 82 00:05:06,320 --> 00:05:09,279 Speaker 1: Gino's son told a newspaper what his father said in 83 00:05:09,320 --> 00:05:12,839 Speaker 1: those rare moments that he mentioned the war. Real heroes, 84 00:05:12,920 --> 00:05:15,479 Speaker 1: he said, are those who have suffered in their soul, 85 00:05:15,680 --> 00:05:18,560 Speaker 1: in their heart, in their spirits, in their mind for 86 00:05:18,760 --> 00:05:23,159 Speaker 1: their loved ones. Those are the real heroes. I am 87 00:05:23,320 --> 00:05:41,000 Speaker 1: just a cyclist. Bertha was at her wits end. It 88 00:05:41,080 --> 00:05:43,680 Speaker 1: wasn't that she didn't love her husband, or even that 89 00:05:43,720 --> 00:05:46,520 Speaker 1: she didn't believe him. The problem was that Karl had 90 00:05:46,680 --> 00:05:50,080 Speaker 1: lost faith in himself, and after everything that Bertha had 91 00:05:50,120 --> 00:05:54,880 Speaker 1: sacrificed that was just unacceptable. For the previous fifteen years, 92 00:05:54,880 --> 00:05:58,200 Speaker 1: she had devoted every ounce of energy to Carl's dreams, 93 00:05:58,520 --> 00:06:01,680 Speaker 1: from using her dowry to save him from bankruptcy and 94 00:06:01,880 --> 00:06:05,400 Speaker 1: managing his business to raising their children while he tinkered 95 00:06:05,440 --> 00:06:08,320 Speaker 1: in his lab. She had done it all. She even 96 00:06:08,360 --> 00:06:11,880 Speaker 1: served as his assistant and partner, pouring countless hours into 97 00:06:11,960 --> 00:06:15,640 Speaker 1: his invention. Two years prior they had finally unveiled it 98 00:06:15,680 --> 00:06:18,840 Speaker 1: to the public. Bertha had stood proudly by Carl's side 99 00:06:18,880 --> 00:06:22,080 Speaker 1: during the demonstration. Now, as a married woman, her name 100 00:06:22,120 --> 00:06:25,120 Speaker 1: could not legally appear on the patent application, but she 101 00:06:25,240 --> 00:06:29,159 Speaker 1: still felt that this was her greatest accomplishment. Unfortunately, the 102 00:06:29,200 --> 00:06:33,680 Speaker 1: public didn't agree. The unveiling received a tepid response. Carl 103 00:06:33,839 --> 00:06:36,440 Speaker 1: was crushed and now believed that the business would never 104 00:06:36,560 --> 00:06:39,880 Speaker 1: be profitable. Bertha had tried to lift his spirits to 105 00:06:40,120 --> 00:06:43,880 Speaker 1: no avail, and she finally had enough. So one morning 106 00:06:43,920 --> 00:06:46,800 Speaker 1: in early August, she woke before dawn and roused her 107 00:06:46,800 --> 00:06:50,320 Speaker 1: two teenage sons the trio. Quietly opened the garage and 108 00:06:50,440 --> 00:06:53,039 Speaker 1: pushed the car to the road where Carl wouldn't hear 109 00:06:53,080 --> 00:06:56,080 Speaker 1: the engine start, and then they set off on their journey. 110 00:06:56,560 --> 00:06:58,640 Speaker 1: A short while later, Carl woke to find the house 111 00:06:58,720 --> 00:07:01,679 Speaker 1: quiet and empty. A note on the dining room table 112 00:07:01,720 --> 00:07:04,480 Speaker 1: explained that Bertha had taken the boys and the car 113 00:07:04,560 --> 00:07:08,239 Speaker 1: to visit her parents in Forsheim, roughly sixty five miles away, 114 00:07:08,600 --> 00:07:11,520 Speaker 1: and when Carl read that, his blood ran cold. Because 115 00:07:11,520 --> 00:07:15,360 Speaker 1: the year was eighteen eighty eight. Carl was Carl Ben's, 116 00:07:15,480 --> 00:07:18,360 Speaker 1: creator of the world's first true automobile, and the car 117 00:07:18,400 --> 00:07:22,640 Speaker 1: Bertha had just driven often was his prototype. Carl immediately 118 00:07:22,640 --> 00:07:25,840 Speaker 1: flew into a panic. His invention had never been subjected 119 00:07:25,880 --> 00:07:29,000 Speaker 1: to this kind of test, no gas powered vehicle ever had. 120 00:07:29,200 --> 00:07:32,920 Speaker 1: The unpaved roads between Mannheim and Forsheim were designed for 121 00:07:33,040 --> 00:07:36,640 Speaker 1: sturdy horses and carriages, not the flimsy tires of his 122 00:07:36,760 --> 00:07:40,080 Speaker 1: three wheeled prototype, and with all the hills and uneven 123 00:07:40,160 --> 00:07:42,840 Speaker 1: terrain they'd be facing, there were countless things that could 124 00:07:42,880 --> 00:07:46,040 Speaker 1: go wrong. But it was too late to dissuade Bertha, 125 00:07:46,360 --> 00:07:48,240 Speaker 1: and with no way of getting in touch with her, 126 00:07:48,440 --> 00:07:51,200 Speaker 1: Carl was forced to wait for news. He soon learned 127 00:07:51,200 --> 00:07:54,080 Speaker 1: the details of his wife's journey from the local papers, 128 00:07:54,320 --> 00:07:57,840 Speaker 1: which followed the test ride with eager interest. The journey 129 00:07:58,000 --> 00:08:00,680 Speaker 1: had not gone smoothly. Of course, the engine had to 130 00:08:00,680 --> 00:08:03,000 Speaker 1: be doused with water every few miles to keep it 131 00:08:03,040 --> 00:08:06,480 Speaker 1: from overheating, and just as Carl feared, the car kept 132 00:08:06,480 --> 00:08:10,560 Speaker 1: breaking down, forcing Bertha to find increasingly inventive solutions to 133 00:08:10,600 --> 00:08:13,560 Speaker 1: get it started again. When the fuel line cogged, she 134 00:08:13,680 --> 00:08:16,240 Speaker 1: cleared it with her hat pin. When the brakes failed, 135 00:08:16,320 --> 00:08:18,680 Speaker 1: she hired a cobbler to add leather to the pads. 136 00:08:19,080 --> 00:08:23,120 Speaker 1: She bought fuel from a skeptical pharmacist, and enlisted locals 137 00:08:23,120 --> 00:08:25,200 Speaker 1: to help her push the car up a steep hill. 138 00:08:25,840 --> 00:08:28,360 Speaker 1: The most exciting moment, though at least as far as 139 00:08:28,400 --> 00:08:31,480 Speaker 1: the male journalists were concerned, came when the vehicle's ignition 140 00:08:31,560 --> 00:08:35,240 Speaker 1: cable shorted out. Bertha stripped off her garter and used 141 00:08:35,240 --> 00:08:39,240 Speaker 1: the fabric to insulate the exposed wire, and despite all 142 00:08:39,240 --> 00:08:43,080 Speaker 1: the obstacles, she reached foresim late that evening and telegraphed 143 00:08:43,080 --> 00:08:45,280 Speaker 1: to tell Carl that she and the boys were safe. 144 00:08:45,400 --> 00:08:47,240 Speaker 1: By the time she made the return trip a few 145 00:08:47,280 --> 00:08:50,400 Speaker 1: days later, word of the test drive had spread around 146 00:08:50,400 --> 00:08:52,960 Speaker 1: the globe. No one cared that the car had broken 147 00:08:53,040 --> 00:08:55,600 Speaker 1: down several times along the way. The image of a 148 00:08:55,600 --> 00:08:58,640 Speaker 1: young mother taking her children for a drive through the countryside, 149 00:08:58,960 --> 00:09:03,000 Speaker 1: had captured the public consciousness, and it wasn't letting go anytime. 150 00:09:03,080 --> 00:09:07,439 Speaker 1: Soon heard this plan had worked perfectly. She had proven 151 00:09:07,480 --> 00:09:10,600 Speaker 1: that there was demand for her husband's invention while bringing 152 00:09:10,679 --> 00:09:13,720 Speaker 1: their company all the publicity they would ever need. And 153 00:09:13,760 --> 00:09:16,560 Speaker 1: she came back with something else too, a list of 154 00:09:16,600 --> 00:09:21,520 Speaker 1: potential improvements inspired by her time on the road, and Carl, well, 155 00:09:21,559 --> 00:09:28,480 Speaker 1: he got straight to work. I hope you've enjoyed today's 156 00:09:28,480 --> 00:09:32,120 Speaker 1: guided tour of the Cabinet of Curiosities. Subscribe for free 157 00:09:32,160 --> 00:09:34,880 Speaker 1: on Apple Podcasts, or learn more about the show by 158 00:09:34,920 --> 00:09:39,960 Speaker 1: visiting Curiosities podcast dot com. The show was created by 159 00:09:39,960 --> 00:09:43,600 Speaker 1: me Aaron Mankey in partnership with how Stuff Works. I 160 00:09:43,679 --> 00:09:47,479 Speaker 1: make another award winning show called Lore, which is a podcast, 161 00:09:47,559 --> 00:09:50,520 Speaker 1: book series, and television show, and you can learn all 162 00:09:50,559 --> 00:09:54,640 Speaker 1: about it over at the Worldolore dot com. And until 163 00:09:54,640 --> 00:09:58,360 Speaker 1: next time, stay curious.