The Jewish community of Italy is holding a series of events beginning Thursday to commemorate 80 years since the Italian Racial Laws were approved under the fascist regime, which restricted the civil rights of Jews.
The first event will be a theatrical representation at Rome’s Auditorium Parco della Musica, recalling what the community described as “one of the most deplorable pages of our recent history.” The play will comprise a trial of King Vittorio Emanuele III, who reigned between 1869-1947 and approved the racial laws.
The play will “reflect on the collective responsibilities of the Fascist regime, institutions and part of civil society which silently accepted the infamy of these laws.”
The subject of the exiled king’s actions against the Jewish community is particularly pertinent after his remains were flown back from Egypt last month for reburial at a family mausoleum near Turin.
The move was fiercely opposed by the Jewish community, with President of the Union of Italian Jewish Communities, Noemi Di Segni, remarking that it “cannot fail to generate deep concern.”
“We need to say it clearly, in all fora: Victor Emmanuel III was an accomplice of the Fascist regime, whose rise he never opposed, and of [its] violence,” Di Segni said in a statement.
Di Segni has written to Culture Minister Dario Franceschini asking that the Vittorio Emanuele III’s name be removed from schools and public libraries that have been named after him in Italy.
The events set to be held in the coming days will also honor International Holocaust Remembrance Day, which will be be marked on January 27.
Next Wednesday, a convention in Rome organized by the Union of Italian Jewish Communities, will examine issues pertaining to the actions of the fascist regime and the racial laws.
On Sunday, January 28, for the second time, a “Run for Mem” will be held in memory of the Holocaust. The run this year will be held in Bologna and seeks to affirm life, “which continues despite all the attempts that have tried over the centuries to exterminate the Jews as well as other populations, with genocide and massacres,” a description of the event reads.
The events will conclude the following day with with an international conference, which will be held in Rome, about the responsibilities of countries, institutes and individuals in the fight against antisemitism in the framework of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, which Italy is chairing this year.
Photo: Bundesarchiv, Bild 146-1969-065-24 / CC-BY-SA 3.0 [CC BY-SA 3.0 de (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/de/deed.en)], via Wikimedia Commons