On 25 April, Italy’s Liberation Day from Nazi Fascism, hundreds of people took part in a rally in Milan under the flags and banners of the Union of the Italian Jewish Community, the local Jewish community and the Jewish Brigade, the Jewish volunteer corps of the British Army recruited in Mandate Palestine, the future state …
“Anti-fascists forever.” On the 80th anniversary of Italy’s liberation from Nazi Fascism, the ceremony organized by the Jewish institutions at Porta San Paolo in Rome, began under this banner. A commemorative wreath by the UCEI and the Jewish Community of Rome was placed at the head of the march, and impressive security measures separated it …
A fundamental text of rabbinic literature, Bereshit Rabbah is again available to Italian readers. Originally translated into Italian many years ago by Rabbi Alfredo Ravenna z.l., the work was first published as part of a series by UTET collecting classic texts from various traditions and has recently been reprinted by Giuntina with updated editorial criteria …
On the 80th anniversary of the Liberation of Italy from Nazi fascism, the project “Tra Resistenza e Resa” (Between Resistance and Surrender) promoted by the CDEC Foundation of Milan made a stop at the Historical Liberation Museum in via Tasso in Rome. The aim of the workshop, which took place on April 9, was to rediscover …
The Gold Medal for Civil Merit was awarded to the Italian State Police in memory of the “members of the Public Security who, in different ranks, roles and responsibilities opposed the occupation regime and the racial legislation from 1943 to 1945”. The solemn tribute was conferred on the 173rd anniversary of the Corps, in a …
Ahead of Passover, Jewish communities around the world joined together in a unified appeal for the release of all hostages held in Gaza. The initiative was launched by the Jewish Agency together with the World Zionist Organization, the Jewish Federations of North America, and Keren Hayesod to support Israel’s recovery and raise global awareness for …
From Milan to Rome, “let’s all wear the kippah for one day in solidarity with the Jewish world and in response to the wave of antisemitism that has swept Italy since October 7.” The libertarian association Europa Radicale launched the initiative during a press conference organized at the Jewish Community of Milan with a letter addressed …
The construction site of the Citadel of Concentration Camp Music in Barletta (Puglia) is scheduled to open before the end of the year. Once completed, it will house the results of years of research by Italian-Jewish pianist Francesco Lotoro to rescue musical pieces composed in concentration, labor and prison camps in Germany and elsewhere along …
Gaëlle Nohant and Raffaele Genah are the winners of the 25th Literary Prize of the Association of Italian Jewish Women (ADEI-WIZO), named in memory of Adelina Della Pergola. The French writer Gaëlle Nohant won the main prize for her novel L’archivio dei destini (The archive of destinies, Neri Pozza) which tells the story of a young French archivist who …
For the third year in a row, the Union of the Italian Jewish Communities (UCEI) renewed its commitment to help families celebrate Passover. More than 300 packages of kosher for Passover products were delivered to Italian Jewish Communities. “We were able to distribute the packages again this year. We added more products than in the …
On March 27, at the “Elio Toaff” kindergarten of the Jewish Community of Rome, a classroom was named after the brothers Ariel and Kfir Bibas. The initiative, an idea of Gianluca Pontecorvo, commemorates the two Israeli children abducted by Hamas on October 7 with their mother. Their bodies were returned to Israel at the end …
The master woodcarver Ferdinando Romanelli was the man responsible for embellishing the Torah Ark of the Synagogue of Florence at the end of the 19th Century. The city, which only a few years earlier had been the capital of Italy, was home to a prestigious woodcarving school, and Romanelli himself was one of its ambassadors, …
The Italian Jewish community has strongly reacted to recent statements by Five Star Movement leader and former Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte. In a video livestreamed on his social media, Conte called on Italian Jews to “distance” themselves from Israel’s actions “because in this case, silence becomes complicity.” We publish an editorial by the President …
Usurers, seducers, and conspirators. This is how Italian cinema portrayed Jews before the Holocaust. In his new book, documentarist filmmaker Luca Martera, an expert in historical, investigative, journalistic and audiovisual research, reconstructs this little-known aspect. Titled Usurai, seduttori e cospiratori (Usurers, seducers and conspirators) and published by Salomone Belforte, the work was presented on March 20 at …
Eighty years after WWII, it is increasingly rare for a living person to be recognized as a Righteous among Nations. Yet, the honor – bestowed by Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Remembrance Center in Jerusalem, to recognize those who took great risks to save Jews during the Shoah – has finally reached Gina Cipolli at the age …
Three projects for the preservation and valorisation of the Jewish heritage in the Marche Region. This is what the Foundation for Jewish Cultural Heritage in Italy (FBCEI) has proposed together with the Community of Ancona, where the FBCEI Board of Directors met on March 19. “It has become a habit for the Foundation to meet regularly in …
Italian top state officials and leaders of the Roman Jewish Community commemorated the victims of the WWII Ardeatine Caves massacre on the southern outskirts of Rome on March 24. Italian President Sergio Mattarella laid a wreath and read the names of the 335 victims executed 80 years ago by Nazi officers in a reprisal for …
On Purim, a delegation from Or Lamishpachot (Light to the Families), an Israeli non-profit organization supporting families of fallen soldiers and victims of terrorist attacks, returned to Rome for the seventh time. Of the 64 parents welcomed at the Great Synagogue, 49 lost a child in the October 7 attacks and the subsequent war. Among them, …
Polish skier Bronislaw Czech was involved in the anti-Nazi resistance; German cyclist Harry Seidel helped more than 100 people escape from East Germany during Communist subjugation; Emil and Dana Zatopek, two track and field champions, distinguished themselves for supporting the Prague Spring; the Italian doctor Antonio Maglio followed in the footsteps of the Jewish-German neurologist …
From now on the Shoah Memorial in Milan can count on a new financial support. Thanks to the collaboration between the Italian Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of University, and to a cross-party amendment voted in Parliament, an annual allocation of €300,000 is now foreseen. “For a cultural institution, to be …