The German search for Jews in Genoa began on November 2, 1943, when two police agents visited the offices of the Jewish community and forced the custodians to turn over their membership lists and summon members to a synagogue meeting the next morning. Many Jews had already left the city by that time, but a majority of those who were seized in Genoa were taken at this meeting. A few members who received the summons were able to escape thanks to a warning from Massimo Teglio. Rabbi Riccardo Pacifici, who until the last moment tried to help other Jews, was captured in the Galleria Mazzini in November of that year. He died at Auschwitz.