Welcome!

About 1,952 years ago, Rome sacked Jerusalem. Its soldiers carried off the treasures of the temple and thousands of Jews. The money and slave labor were then used to build a gigantic amphitheater you’ve probably heard of. It’s called the Colosseum.

…[The National Museum of Italian Judaism and the Shoah (In Italian, that’s Museo Nazionale dell’Ebraismo Italiano e della Shoah, or MEIS for short] is not even remotely close to being finished. Architectural plans call for five additional adjoining glass buildings — representing the five books of the Torah — that will eventually hold an auditorium, restaurant, archive, educational spaces and a youth wing. None of them has been built yet. That didn’t stop the museum from opening late last year in Ferrara, Italy, a gorgeously green city about 70 miles south of Venice. The UNESCO World Heritage site — renowned for its medieval and Renaissance architecture — has also been a vital center of Jewish life in Italy for 1,000 years or so, most notably during the reign of the House of Este, whose leaders encouraged Jews to settle there in the aftermath of the Spanish Inquisition. ([Director Simonetta Della Seta] recounts the story of Gracia Mendes Nasi, a wealthy entrepreneur who pretended to be a Catholic while living in Lisbon, Antwerp and Venice. It wasn’t until she moved to Ferrara in 1549 that she was able to practice Judaism openly.)

As in the rest of Italy, Ferrara eventually became less welcoming and forced its Jewish residents into a ghetto. Later, during the Nazi occupation, Jews were kept at the city’s prison before being delivered to concentration camps.

…But first, it’s time for the multimedia show “Through the Eyes of Italian Jews,” which promises “2,200 years of Jewish history and culture in 24 minutes.” The film, shown with narration alternating between Italian and English, relies on paintings, texts and photos to deliver a rather depressing crash course. It’s also a reminder of all of the material the museum can tackle in the coming years. Next up, in 2019, will be an exhibit focused on Jews in the Renaissance.

And certainly, MEIS will develop into a place for Italians to account for their role in the Holocaust. “We have to face that many Italians helped the Nazis,” says Della Seta, noting that this year marks the 80th anniversary of the country’s anti-Jewish laws of 1938.

…Rooms aren’t crowded with objects. Rather, each one commands space to tell its own story, such as the 1470 print of a book by historian Flavius Josephus, whose writings during the 1st century offer much of what we know about Jewish life from the time. The marble statue of Emperor Titus was buried in Herculaneum in A.D. 79, just nine years after he was responsible for the destruction of Jerusalem. Both Romans and Jews thought that the volcanic eruption was a punishment, Della Seta says.

In the next room is the epitaph of a 25-year-old Jewish woman, Claudia Aster, that reveals she was born in Jerusalem and brought to Italy as a slave. On loan from the National Archaeological Museum of Naples, it’s a prime example of the kind of artifact that Della Seta expects will find more appreciation in this setting. “Here, there’s context,” she says, with a video evoking the burning of the temple on one side and a reproduction of Rome’s Arch of Titus (which depicts the looting of the temple) on the other.

Even before the arrival of these slaves, there was a growing Jewish community throughout southern Italy. One sign of this presence is the existence of Jewish catacombs dotted with meaningful symbols, such as menorahs. These underground cemeteries are challenging to visit, both logistically and physically, but MEIS offers easy access to several of them, thanks to detailed re-creations. (Look for the graffiti on the walls.)

…Although it only takes visitors up to the Middle Ages, the themes feel surprisingly modern. “This is a time of migration,” says Della Seta, who insists that people today have much to learn from centuries of Jewish experience and resilience. And this knowledge, she adds, can serve as a tool to combat a recent swell of anti-Semitic sentiment…

For the International Holocaust Remembrance Day I have collected a few books by italian authors, witnesses, historians about the holocaust and the history of the jews in Italy. (For a couple of them, written by Primo Levi, there is also the English version, but the rest are all in Italian).

Liliana Segre, La memoria rende liberi.

Liliana Segre, Scolpitelo nel vostro cuore.

Marco Paolini, Ausmerzen.

Mario Avagliano, Marco Palmieri, Michele Sarfatti, Gli ebrei sotto la persecuzione in Italia. Diari e lettere 1938-1945

Primo Levi, I sommersi e i salvati.

Primo Levi, If this is a man – The truce.

Primo Levi, Il sistema periodico.

Primo Levi, La tregua.

Primo Levi, Se questo è un uomo.

Primo Levi, The periodic table.

Riccardo Calimani, Storia degli ebrei italiani Vol. I Dalle origini al XV secolo.

Riccardo Calimani, Storia degli ebrei italiani Vol. II Dal XVI al XVIII secolo.

Riccardo Calimani, Storia degli ebrei italiani Vol. III Nel XIX e nel XX secolo.