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 …
Roberto (Roby) Bassi, an esteemed figure in the Italian and European Jewish world, passed away on March 1. Born in Venice, he was a professor of dermatology. The author of numerous scientific works, he was one of the pioneers of the psychosomatic medicine in Italy, becoming president of the Italian Society of Psychosomatic Medicine and …
In the late 1960s, Jack Stroumsa, director of the Jerusalem Municipality’s Public Lighting Department, met a young Italian engineer named Gianfranco Yohanan Di Segni. Both were olim hadashim – new immigrants to Israel. Born in Rome in 1941, Di Segni and his family had escaped the Shoah under the protection of a convent of nuns. After the …
The remains of the synagogue at Rome’s ancient port of Ostia, dating back to the first century, testify to the continuous Jewish presence in Italy for more than two centuries. They are also a great source of new historical discoveries. A few months ago, during an excavation campaign supported by the Ministry of Culture, a …
Hundreds of people and numerous associations gathered in Rome to remember Shiri, Ariel and Kfir Bibas, the young Israeli mother and her two children who were abducted by Hamas on October 7 and whose bodies were returned to Israel last week. In their memory, the Great Synagogue in Rome was lit orange on Monday and …
“A wave of emotions swept over me when the Pope came toward me with open arms and embraced me. Two thousand years of history, pain, and suffering weighed upon my heart.” With these words, the then Chief Rabbi of Rome, Elio Toaff, described the historic visit of Pope John Paul II to Rome’s Great Synagogue …
The European Association for the Preservation and Promotion of Jewish Culture and Heritage (AEPJ) is celebrating its 20th anniversary. The AEPJ has been a key promoter of the European Day of Jewish Culture and numerous initiatives dedicated to highlighting over two millennia of Jewish history on the continent. This rich history, with significant contributions from …
Mario Falco (1884–1943) was a professor of canon law; Carlo Foà (1880–1971) was a professor of human physiology; Giuliana Fiorentino Tedeschi (1914–2010) was an assistant in the history of the Italian language. They had vastly different lives and stories, connected only by their common affiliation to the University of Milan. But in 1938, their fates, …
“The most significant finding emerging from the survey Italians and Holocaust Remembrance Day: The evolution of perception from 2014 to 2025 appears to be related to declining attention. Paradoxically, at a time when attention to the Jewish world is at an all-time high and many issues have been exacerbated, Holocaust Remembrance Day seems to be becoming less …
From the Italian sport fields glory to Auschwitz. This is the tragic journey of Arpad Weisz, one of the most successful football coaches in history, winner of three national titles Weisz, as victorious as few others in his field, was forgotten for decades—even by football fans—until Italian journalist Matteo Marani retraced his story in recent …
The memory of the Shoah faces a serious threat: distortion, which undermines its meaning and compromises the correct transmission of messages and values to future generations.
The condition of 13 extermination camps and their sub-camps between 1944 and 1945, starting with those lesser-known in the Baltic region, is the focus of the new exhibition inaugurated at the Shoah Museum Foundation in Rome. Curated by historian Marcello Pezzetti, the project “is to challenge a widespread and misleading ‘rhetoric of liberation.’ In many …
Senator Liliana Segre: "Young people, less smartphone and more books" Di Segni: “Today we live suspended"
Shortly after the announcement of the ceasefire in Gaza and the release of the first hostages held by Hamas, the President of the Union of Italian Jewish Communities (UCEI), Noemi Di Segni, appealed for at least one more “ceasefire”: that of distortion and anti-Semitic hatred, calling on public opinion “to refrain from using words such …
After World War II, Louis Goldman became an established photographer in the USA. During the war, he was a young Jewish man hounded by the nazi-fascists. Born in Germany to Polish parents, he fled to Paris and later hid in Florence, thanks to the assistance of the Opera of the Divine Providence of Madonnina del …
More than 17 million euros have been allocated to improve infrastructure in Israel’s northern region, alongside upgrades to Jerusalem’s street lighting and targeted interventions in the Old City’s alleys in Safed. These are among the investments announced by the Israeli government to revive tourism in 2025. In the Jubilee year, the aim is to restore …
The remains of the Bova Marina synagogue, dating back to the 4th century, stand as a testament to the ancient history and legacy of Judaism in the Calabria region. The light of Hanukkah illuminated these historic grounds, thanks to an initiative organized by local representative Roque Pugliese, in collaboration with the Union of Italian Jewish …
From synagogues to community spaces and public square, Hanukkah lights illuminated Italy with their festive message. Accompanied by a children’s choir, Rabbi Alberto Funaro lit the menorah at the Tempio Maggiore in Rome. Here, the president of the Jewish Community, Victor Fadlun, reflected on the hostages held by Hamas, expressing hope for their liberation and …
In 2017, the Archdiocese of Palermo’s decision to grant the free use of an ecclesiastical property to establish a synagogue made headlines worldwide. The New York Times captured the moment with the headline: “500 Years After Expulsion, Sicily’s Jews Reclaim a Lost History,” underscoring the symbolic weight of this gesture more than five centuries after the expulsion …
After centuries of confinement in the ghetto, the granting of civil rights and freedoms offered Roman Jews the opportunity to build a grand synagogue in that very area, serving as a symbol of their historic shift toward emancipation. The synagogue was intended to “proudly rise among the constructions of the new city” and embody a …