Louis "Lou" Pechi was born as Ljubomir Peći on August 10, 1934, in Zagreb, Yugoslavia (now Croatia) to Stjepan Peći and Piroška Sidon Peći. He was an only child, and was called "Lubo." His father, whom Lubo called "Kolega" was an import-export customs broker and traveled frequently. In April 1941, Stjepan reported for military service, while Piroška and Lubo went to Belgrade to visit her father. They were caught in the aerial bombardment of Belgrade and the German invasion of Yugoslavia. They returned to Zagreb, and reunited with Stjepan. A few weeks later, Stjepan was arrested. As a favor, a German client of his wrote a letter requesting his assistance with a shipment and Stjepan was temporarily released for 24 hours. The family went to the local church and were baptized. Since Jews were not allowed to leave town, the conversion to the Catholic faith allowed them to travel. On the train to the Italian border city of Fiume/Rijeka they were forced to disembark. They boarded a small boat that took them to out to sea and to Italy. From there they took a train to Treviso, where several Yugoslav friends had congregated. Lubo remained with his uncle and aunt, Štefko and Babuš in Brod, posing as a Catholic boy. On May 4, 1943, the police came to arrest Lubo; he was later released when Milica Müller, a relative of the chief of police, intervened for his release. At the beginning of June, Mrs. Müller escorted Lubo, posing as her son Vlado Müller, into Italy where he reunited with his parents, interned (Internati di Guerra) in Treviso. They had to report weekly to the local police station but were otherwise generally unmolested. After Mussolini's arrest, the family moved to Rome, where they had to be more careful about their movements. Lubo obtained an identity card with the name "Beniamino Bellini"; shortly thereafter, Rome was liberated. Stjepan returned to Croatia to join the partisans and, in June 1945, returned to Italy to take Lubo back to Zagreb to see his dying grandmother. He remained in Zagreb with his father; Stjepan and Piroška divorced and Piroška married an American Navy officer, Frank Petrich. Stjepan married a woman named Mija. In 1948, Stjepan, Mija, and Lubo emigrated to Palestine so Stjepan could avoid having to join the Communist party. Lubo was deposited at a kibbutz with many other children while Stjepan and Mija soon moved back to Europe, settling in Italy. In 1955, After serving in the Israeli Air Force, Lubo emigrated to the United States, where he joined the US Air Force. He later married his wife, Lenore, and has two children, Tony and Nina. Lou Pechi lives in San Diego, CA.
