The deportation of more than 1,000 Jews from the Rome Ghetto on 16 October 1943 was remembered by the Jewish community of Italian descent in Israel with a ceremony at the Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Remembrance Center in Jerusalem. The eternal flame, which burns for the 6 million Jews killed by the Nazis, was rekindled in the Hall of Remembrance.
“It is our duty to remember what happened 75 years ago in Rome”, the Italian Ambassador to Jerusalem Gianluigi Benedetti said. He was speaking at the conference that followed the ceremony, which was also attended by the President of Rai Marcello Foa and the Consul General of Italy in Jerusalem, Fabio Sokolovicz. “We are here today to remember a tragic page, for the Roman Jewish community in particular and for all of Italy”, Benedetti added.
Sergio della Pergola, President of “Hevra'”, the association of Jews of Italian descent living in Israel, also spoke at the conference. October 16, he said, has become the “symbol” of anti-Jewish persecutions in Italy. He also remembered the Italian “Righteous”, more than 600 out of a total of 26,000. Three Italian Jews (Leone Paserman, Daniele Nissim and Sergio Del Monte) later told their stories, remembering the people who helped them.
