NEWS Celebrating April 25 with the Jewish Brigade

By Rossella Tercatin

Italy celebrated the seventieth anniversary of the end of the Second World War and the liberation from Nazi-Fascism last Saturday, April 25.
Rallies to commemorate the event and the partisans who fought to free the country were held all over the country. At the national march that took place in Milan, many gathered under the banners of the Jewish Brigade, which was a military faction of the British Army which employed Jewish volunteers from the territory of the British Mandate of Palestine and made a decisive contribution to the liberation of Italy.

In the past years, the people marching under the flag of the Jewish Brigade have often been verbally abused by pro-Palestinian demonstrators. In order to prevent this in Milan the group marched escorted by a delegation of the Democratic Party. In Rome the Italian Partisans National Association (ANPI) asked the municipality of Rome to organize the celebration to prevent pro-Palestinian groups which are in no way related to the history of Italy’s liberation to be involved.

Although in Milan few people did protest against the people with the Jewish Brigade flags, the rally was peaceful and the applause clearly overcame the hoots.
Furthermore, there was a ceremony organized, among others, by the Jewish Community of Rome, on Sunday in the cemetery of Piangipane near Ravenna where the soldiers of the Jewish Brigade who fell fighting for Italy are buried.

The role of the Jewish Brigade was honored also by the president of Italy, Sergio Mattarella.“I want us to remember, among others, the figure of Enzo Sereni, who parachuted himself into Tuscany and was captured by the Nazis and died in Dachau,” Mattarella said.

The figure of Enzo Sereni was also remembered in an event organized by the Italian Embassy In Israel. The event took place on Sunday night in the Hall of Independence in Tel Aviv.