WASHINGTON D.C., January 27, 2017 \u2013 The Embassy of Italy in Washington and the Italian Consular network throughout the United States will honor International Holocaust Remembrance Day through a series of events in Boston, Chicago, Detroit, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco and Washington DC.<\/p>\n
On January 27, 1945 Soviet troops broke through the gates of Auschwitz-Birkenau, the largest Nazi death camp. In 2000 the Italian parliament passed a proclaiming \u201cRemembrance Day\u201d, which paved the way for similar declarations in other countries and by the U.N. in 2005. \u201cRemembrance Day aims at preserving the tragic memory of the Shoah and ensuring that its significance is transmitted to the younger generations, and by them fully understood, to prevent it from ever happening again.\u201d underscored the Ambassador of Italy to the United States, Armando Varricchio.<\/p>\n
To mark International Holocaust Remembrance Day, on January 30, 2017 the Embassy of Italy and the Embassy of Israel in Washington<\/strong>, DC will host the Kolot HaLev choir of the Shirat HaNefesh Congregation in Maryland which will perform religious and traditional secular songs. A live feed on www.facebook.com\/ItalyInUs.org<\/a> \u00a0will allow a wide audience to participate. In addition, Polish Holocaust survivor Rachel Mutterperl Goldfarb will offer testimony on her harrowing experiences during the war. The photographic exhibit \u201cReturn to Life – The Holocaust Survivors:from Liberation to Rehabilitation\u201d will also open on January 30 and will be on display until February 3 by appointment only.<\/p>\n The Italian Consulate in Boston<\/strong> has organized a screening of Roberto Rossellini\u2019s award winning film, \u201cGeneral Della Rovere\u201d which delves in themes still important in our postwar period: complicity versus redemption and how to negotiate this balance. Prof. Sergio Parussa, from Wellesley College, a specialist in Italian Jewish history and literature, will introduce the film.<\/p>\n The Italian Consulate and the Italian Cultural Institute in Chicago<\/strong>, the Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center and The American Jewish Committee will screen a film \u201cLook to the Sky\u201d by Roberto Faenza. It presents the holocaust as seen through the eyes of Jonah, an innocent young Jewish child. Holocaust survivor Ms. Judy Strauss will participate and will offer remarks following the screening.<\/p>\n The Italian Consulate in Detroit<\/strong> presents the concert \u201cSongs From a Lost World of Italian-Jewish Composers\u201d with Caroline Helton as soprano accompanied by Kathryn Goodson on the piano.<\/p>\n In Philadelphia<\/strong> several events include \u201cPrimo\u201d, the stage adaptation of Primo Levi\u2019s book \u201cIf This Is A Man\u201d, a screening of the 2016 Academy Award winning film \u201cSon of Saul\u201d, a lecture on \u201cNazi Medicine, the Holocaust, and the Problem of Collective Evil\u201d by Dr. Salvatore Mangione, and the screening of \u201cGattaca\u201d with its theme of genetic discrimination.<\/p>\n The Italian Consulate in Houston<\/strong> will screen films which study the Holocaust, the Jewish experience and World War II. The features are \u201cMiracle at St. Anna\u201d by Spike Lee , \u201cLa Vita \u00e8 Bella\u201d by Roberto Benigni, \u201cLa Tregua\u201d by Francesco Rosi and \u201cAppartamento ad Atene\u201d by Ruggero Diapola.<\/p>\n The Italian Consulate and the Italian Cultural Institute in Los Angeles<\/strong> will conduct public readings of all the names of the Italian victims, in memory of the Jewish victims of the Holocaust, followed by a screening of \u201cPerlasca. The Courage of a Just Man\u201d a film narrating the true story of an Italian businessman working in Hungary during WWII.<\/p>\n The Italian Consulate and the Italian Cultural Institute in New York<\/strong> will conduct public readings of the names of the Jews deported from Italy and Italian territories. During the ceremony brief accounts of the lives of men, women and children whom the Nazi and Fascist regimes had labeled as \u201cforeign Jews\u201d or \u201cstateless Jews\u201d will be read. The stories are drawn from the book \u201cPaper Lives\u201d by Anna Pizzuti.<\/p>\n The Italian Consulate and the Italian Cultural Institute in San Francisco<\/strong> will present a concert by The Quartetto di Cremona which will feature works by Jewish composer Felix Mendelssohn.<\/p>\n To learn more about these and other Italian cultural events in the U.S.: www.italyinus.org<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n Website of the Embassy of Italy in Washington D.C.: http:\/\/www.ambwashingtondc.esteri.it\/<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n