Having trouble viewing this email? Click here July 5, 2021 – 25 Tamuz 5781

“Two worlds that have long faced each other will come together in the name of Europe: healing after a long convalescence is within reach”. In his latest book, Decontaminare le memorie (Decontaminating memories), the historian Alberto Cavaglion stops in a place of intense suggestions: the square of the Transalpine Station of Gorizia, which once was a symbol of the political-ideological separation between Western and Easter Europe and now embodies a new era, a new possibility that has opened up and it would be unforgivable not to grasp.
In 2025 the two divided cities, Gorizia and Nova Gorica, will come together to become European Capitals of Culture. “The sufferings of the past, which here dates back to the First World War, to the anti-Slavic hatred that preceded and, in many ways, surpassed fascist antisemitism, are destined to vanish”. “The slow decontamination process, writes Cavaglion, “is about to end with a happy ending”.
It is a historic event, centered on the Jewish legacy of a city which in its golden age earned the fame of “Jerusalem on the Isonzo”, due both to the significant presence of Jews converging from all over the Austro-Hungarian Empire, from Italy, and, through Trieste, from Dalmatia, and to prominent figures such as the philosopher Michelstadter, the linguist Ascoli, the rabbi Isacco Samuele Reggio, and the journalist Carolina Luzzatto Coen.
The initiative is now about to enter its operational phase. After an online seminar held at the beginning of June, a new trilingual website (Italian, Slovenian and English) updates on the progresses of one of the qualifying projects of the joint dossier presented by the two Gorizie in view of 2025: the restoration and enhancement of the Valdirose/Rožná Dolina cemetery, in Slovenian territory, by the Jewish Cultural Heritage Foundation in Italy. Developed from an idea of the Pagine Ebraiche newsroom, the cemetery’s restoration is a fascinating challenge, also because of its cross-border location, points out the architect Andrea Morpurgo, project manager and counselor of JHE. Frankfurt an der Oder, Germany, is the sole other place in Europe where the architectural heritage of a Jewish community was divided between two countries after the Second World War. 

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A bar mitzvah had not been celebrated in Pisa for some years now. The ancient Jewish community has returned to celebrate one in May, with the reading in the synagogue of the first call of the Parashah of Chukkàt by the 13-year-old Yoel Moravchick. “It was a great emotion, a moment of celebration for everyone”, stressed Maurizio Gabbrielli, president of the Pisan Jewish Community and Councilor of the Union of Italian Jewish Communities. A doubly special occasion for him, given that the new bar mitzvah is his nephew. “It gave us much joy to see him there, in tevah, as he read the assigned portion of the Torah. These are not things that happen every day in small communities like ours. A further sign of hope in this restart phase”. The ceremony was officiated by Luciano Caro, reference rabbi of the Community, who oversaw the formation of Yoel together with Gadi Polacco. Several dozen people were present in the synagogue. Many arrived from other cities, as well as from Israel, for the joyful appointment.

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November 1942. The paths of a man and a woman cross in a village in the south-east of France occupied by the Italian army. Federico Strobino is an Italian officer, Rima Dridso Levin is a Jewish woman of Russian origins who, alongside her sister Vera, fled across Europe seeking refuge from the Nazis, and it is love at first sight. In that area, relatively safe from the Germans and the Vichy regime, a connection arises. And after nine months, a baby was born. It is an unimaginable haven of peace built amid a suffering Europe. Until September 8th, 1943 when the armistice is signed with Italy.
With the Germans arriving and Italian soldiers fleeing, the Jews found themselves surrounded by danger. Most were arrested and deported to Auschwitz, a few managed to hide. At that point, the scenario dramatically changes. Strobino is forced to return to Italy, in Borgosesia. The two women and the child accompany him. Danger looms everywhere, but the officer succeeds in saving all three loved ones. The love with Rima will then end. But without detracting from the strength and intensity of this story. This very touching story is now at the center of the film “Falling in love at wartime” by Audrey Gordon, produced by Zenit Arti Audiovisive and Nilaya Productions, with texts and scientific advice by the historian Alberto Cavaglion.

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By Gadi Luzzatto Voghera*

Recent episodes of communication on social media, characterized by decidedly anti-Israeli messages and containing evident antisemitic implications, force us to look with great concern at a growing dynamic of hate speech. One cannot but severely contest both Michela Murgia's claims in support of Hamas (a fascist and fundamentalist regime that does not provide freedom to women) and the fake-silly and actually shocking short films of the young Roman influencer Tasmin Ali who tramples on a star of David then indicating it as if it were excrement. Beyond the hatefulness of the messages by these two women who on several occasions have openly spoken out in defense of gender dignity and freedom, then contradicting themselves with these miserable utterances, I think that precisely the communicative dynamics underlying these messages must elicit a reflection.
Whether it is on Twitter or Tik Tok, the influencer trade is based on finding the right formula to collect the greatest number of sympathies and therefore likes and followers. If to do this we resort to openly antisemitic declarations, evidently there is now a widespread awareness that by doing it we are meeting the favor of a very large audience.

* Director of the CDEC Foundation

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Por Darío Menor*

“Nacer por casualidad / nacer mujer / nacer pobre / nacer judía / es demasiado / en una sola vida” . Con estos versos Edith Bruck trataba de resumir hace décadas su admirable y conmovedora historia vital, aunque es probable que en breve se le hayan quedado cortos. A sus 90 años recién cumplidos, esta encantadora y sonriente señora que fuma sin parar elegantes cigarrillos largos y finos es una de las sensaciones literarias de Italia con su última novela, 'Il pane perduto' (El pan perdido), que está entre las finalistas del premio Strega, el galardón más importante de la narrativa contemporánea en la lengua italiana y cuyo ganador anual se hace público en julio. El libro, que todavía no ha sido publicado en español, va ya por la décima edición y le ha dado una enorme visibilidad a su autora.

*Este articulo fue publicado en El Comercio el 28 junio de 2021.

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