ROME – UCEI and Carabinieri commemorate another October 7
In 1943, 2.000 Carabinieri Deported

On October 7, 1943, more than 2.000 Carabinieri stationed in Rome were arrested by the Nazis, with the backing of the Fascist leader Rodolfo Graziani, the Minister of the Armed Forces for the newly established Italian Social Republic, who had just ordered their disarmament. This was the first act of a tragedy that continued with their deportation to concentration camps, giving the Nazi-Fascists greater freedom to carry out their crimes, beginning with the imminent roundup of Roman Jewson October 16 at dawn.
These two events are deeply connected and should be understood together, as highlighted by UCEI President Noemi Di Segni during a ceremony organized by the Carabinieri military police leadership and Jewish institutions at the barracks dedicated to Captain and hero Orlando De Tommaso. Posthumously awarded the Gold Medal for Military Valor, De Tommaso fell in the battle at Porta San Paolo in Rome while aiding a wounded comrade under Nazi fire.
The ceremony was attended by General Giuseppe La Gala, commander of the Carabinieri Schools, General Marco Lorenzoni, commander of the Carabinieri Cadet Legion, and Rome’s Chief Rabbi Riccardo Di Segni, who recited a psalm. UCEI President Di Segni stated that the arrest and deportation of the Roman Carabinieri revealed the “diabolical planning based on a dual strategy: to eliminate those who uphold the sacred duty of protecting life and to rely on those who embraced base concepts of hierarchy and submission to facilitate the path to the concentration camps.”
Therefore, Di Segni stressed, “it is our duty today to reaffirm clearly and unequivocally the meaning of legality and the rule of law,” as these principles are essential to the defense of life. This message remains painfully relevant considering the horrors of another October 7, that of 2023. “The coincidence of dates is entirely accidental,” Di Segni noted, referring to the pogroms by Hamas, yet the parallel is “extremely significant” and “chilling.”

General Commander Luzi visited Rome’s Jewish quarter
On October 10, the General Commander of the Carabinieri Teo Luzi visited the Jewish Quarter and school in Rome. The visit began at the Great Synagogue, where he was welcomed by Rabbi Di Segni and Rome Jewish Community President Victor Fadlun. “It was a moment of great significance, an opportunity to thank the General Commander for his dedication and service over the years,” stated the Community in a note. Luzi’s visit, it added, “further deepened the strong bond between the Jewish Community and the Carabinieri.”

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