Italy and the Holocaust: The Calabria Connection
Survivors and rescuers to tell their stories at UMass Boston
Efforts by ordinary citizens to help Jewish people in northern Europe evade Nazi persecution during World War II are relatively well known in the United States. But the phenomenon wasn’t limited to Germany, Poland and the Netherlands—similar heroism also took place in Italy, where Jews were captured and sent to death camps beginning in 1943.
On Monday, November 10, the conference “Italy and the Holocaust: The Calabria Connection” explored one chapter of that story with a look at the Ferramonti di Tarsia Concentration Camp in Calabria, Italy. The conference, the latest in a series of 44 organized by Dr. Maria Lombardo of UMass Boston, is funded by the American Jewish Committee, the Consulate General of Israel to New England, the Jewish Community Relations Council, and a number of other organizational and individual donors. A complimentary breakfast was provided by the Office of the Chancellor, UMass Boston and a complimentary luncheon by the Italian Center of NYC North End Boston office.
Along with the screening of a documentary film, a panel discussion, and a presentation by Dr. Joseph Scelsa of the Italian American Museum, the conference will include remarks by survivors of the camps who now live in the Boston area; additionally, a woman whose family sheltered the family of one of those survivors will be traveling from Italy to speak at the conference. Ms. Cristina Fontanelli, a world renowned soprano from NYC will be the musical guest.
“We are grateful to the Italian Center of New York City’s North End Boston Office and the many Jewish and Italian organizations that have contributed to make this gathering possible and to the guest speakers arriving from Rome, Cosenza, Chicago and New York,” said conference organizer Lombardo. “This conference is in remembrance of my father, an international resistance fighter who survived a slave labor camp, and those others who were willing to risk their lives against an evil Nazi force so that others could survive and that their children would be free.”
The conference will be held on November 10 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at UMass Boston’s Campus Center Ballroom. Any proceeds from the conference will be donated to the UMass Boston Scholarship Program.
For press inquiries about the conference, or to arrange to speak to local survivors or their descendants before or after the event on November 10, please contact Will Kilburn at 617-287-5317 or will.kilburn@umb.edu.
For additional information about the conference, please contact Dr. Maria Lombardo at 216-287-5766 or maria.lombardo@umb.edu. To register, please RSVP with the number in your party to holocaustconference@gmail.com or by calling 617-287-5726.
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