MEDIA On Pagine Ebraiche, the Meaning of Bergoglio’s Visit

By Rachel Silvera

The new issue of Pagine Ebraiche was printed just a few hours after Jorge Bergoglio’s visit to the main synagogue of Rome and features many special articles on the event.
The meaningful Pope’s visit to the synagogue (the third, after John Paul II and Benedict XVI) is commented by historian Anna Foa, Italian Rabbinical Assembly president Giuseppe Momigliano, diplomat Sergio Minerbi, representative of the American Jewish Committee in Italy Lisa Billig and historian Alberto Melloni.

The February issue is also devoted to the importance of Holocaust remembrance and to future challenges. Sandro De Bernardin, head of the Italian delegation at the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance explains its new projects. Victor Magiar of the Union of Italian Jewish Communities highlights that the means of remembrance are to be found in culture and creativity. In the city of Bologna, meanwhile, the new Shoah memorial will soon be inaugurated. History is taught through movies as well: the new “Son of Saul” by Laszlo Nemes, “Labyrinth of Lies” by Giulio Ricciarelli and “Traces of Love” by Marina Piperno fall into this category.

This year, the copyrights of two very different books, the Diary of Anne Frank and Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf, expire. This has opened up a great controversy.

Pagine Ebraiche also presents the new book “Toward the Promised Land” by Alberto Cavaglion (Carocci Publisher) that reveals the reactions of great writers like Pierpaolo Pasolini after seeing the city of Jerusalem for the first time.

After the opening in Turin last year, the exhibition “Worlds of Primo Levi” arrives now in another beautiful Italian city: Ferrara. The exhibition is sponsored by the National Museum of Italian Judaism and the Holocaust that has a new president, Dario Disegni, who guides the readers through all the relevant news.