“Others do not, like me, carry two thousand years of civilisation on their shoulders.”
“Gli altri non hanno, come me, duemila anni di civiltà sulle spalle.”
(Salvatore Bruno Todaro)
A Sicilian submarine commander in the Italian Royal Navy during the Second World War, Salvatore Bruno Todaro was awarded several top honours, including the Gold Medal of Military Valour.
The Sinking of the Kabalo
On the night of 16 October 1940, Commander Salvatore Todaro sank the Belgian steamer Kabalo during a mission off the island of Madeira, after three failed torpedo attempts and returning enemy fire with the deck gun.
After the sinking, he spotted 26 survivors and rescued them, hosting them on his submarine for four days before safely disembarking them on the Azores Islands.
The Kabalo’s captain, Georges Vogels, astonished by Todaro’s generosity, questioned his motives, to which Todaro replied that he considered himself, above all, a man of the sea.
This act of humanity was not well received by German admiral Karl Dönitz, who criticised Todaro’s behaviour, stating that this was not a war for “good Samaritans.”
Todaro responded to the criticisms with a sharp remark, which became famous from that moment on in the history of the Italian Navy:
“Others do not, like me, carry two thousand years of civilisation on their shoulders.”