In Rome, someone vandalized a monument to Jews deported to extermination camps

Rome – In Rome, someone vandalized a monument to Jews deported to concentration camps during World War II. It is written by the ANSA agency today. Four commemorative cubes were damaged, commemorating the fate of four members of the Roman Jewish community. Mayor Roberto Gualtieri condemned the act, other politicians talk about the rise of anti-Semitism.

On Tuesday and today, citizens reported damage to four memorial stones. The cubes, which are usually light in color, have been blackened by someone. According to the media, it is not clear whether the perpetrator(s) used fire, paint or some other method to achieve the color change.

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“Rome strongly condemns this unacceptable and shameful act,” said the mayor of the Italian capital, Gualtieri. The head of Italy’s largest opposition party, the Democratic Party, Elly Schlein warned of the rise of anti-Semitism in Italy. “I hope that what is happening in other European cities, especially in Paris, will not be repeated here,” said the chairman of the Roman Jewish community, Victor Fadlun. He was alluding to an incident in which someone marked several houses in the French capital with the Star of David.

Memorial blocks commemorate members of the Jewish community who were deported to concentration camps during the Nazi occupation in the streets of Rome. Less well-known is the mass arrest in the Roman ghetto in mid-October 1943. According to historians, the Nazis, in cooperation with local fascists, arrested over 1,200 people on October 16, 1943 and sent roughly 1,000 of them to the Auschwitz camp. Only 16 detainees survived the war. However, the arrests and deportations of Jews continued throughout the Nazi occupation of Rome, which ended in June 1944.

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Author: ČTK Date: November 1, 2023 Photo: