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  • Events: Reports

    30 Years of NOIAW. Celebrating the Milestone with Lidia Bastianich and Family

    On June 10, 2010, the National Organization of Italian American Women (NOIAW) will hold its 30th Anniversary Gala at the Waldorf=Astoria, honoring the Bastianich family members Lidia Bastianich, Joseph Bastianich, Tanya Bastianich Manuali, Nonna Erminia and grandchildren for their outstanding contributions to Italian culture in America. 
     

    NOIAW is recognizing the members of the Bastianich family in following with NOIAW’s mission to recognize Italian American women who have made outstanding achievements in their fields, positive contributions to their communities, and who are also strong role models to the next generation of Italian American women. NOIAW also enjoys the opportunity to recognize the men who have been integral to the efforts of such remarkable women.  
     
    NOIAW Chairwoman and Founder Dr. Aileen Riotto Sirey said of the honorees, “as we celebrate our organization’s 30 year milestone and the rise of the next generation of our members, we are proud to honor the accomplishments of three generations of the Bastianich family. Inspired by matriarch Nonna Erminia’s devotion to her heritage, daughter Lidia Bastianich, and her children, Joe and Tanya, have built their family business into an epicurean empire which continues to spread the tastes of authentic Italian culture throughout the United States. We are proud to honor them for their success in promoting our heritage and for being such an outstanding example of an Italian family.”
     

    Working together, the Bastianich family has authored nine books, established 19 restaurants, four vineyards, a travel tour company, a television production company, and several product lines—all based on bringing the best of Italian cuisine and family culture to the United States.
     
    The proceeds from the Gala will help to support NOIAW programs such as the Mentor Program which pairs young Italian American women with established professionals as mentors; the Scholarship Program which provides financial assistance to students so that they may realize their dreams; and the Cultural Exchange Program which sends young Italian American women on educational group trips to Italy. For NOIAW members, the organization offers ongoing cultural, social, and networking programs and events.

    The event will be held on the evening of June 10, 2010, in the Starlight Roof Ballroom of the Waldorf=Astoria in New York City, and will feature a menu by Lidia with wines from the Bastianich vineyards. Ticket prices begin at $300. For more information, or to order tickets, please call NOIAW at (212) 642-2003 or visit NOIAW's events page 
    _______
     
    Lidia Bastianich is one of the best-loved chefs on television, a best-selling cookbook author, restaurateur, and owner of a flourishing food and entertainment business. Her cookbooks include, Lidia Cooks from the Heart of Italy and Lidia’s Italy–both companion books to the Emmy-nominated television series, Lidia’s Italy as well as Lidia’s Family Table, Lidia’s Italian-American Kitchen, Lidia’s Italian Table and La Cucina di Lidia. Lidia is the chef/owner of four acclaimed New York City restaurants—Felidia, Becco, Esca and Del Posto, as well as Lidia’s in Pittsburgh and Kansas City.
    She is also founder and president of Tavola Productions, an entertainment company that produces high-quality broadcast productions including Lidia’s Italy. Together with her son Joseph, she produces award-winning wines at their Bastianich Vineyards in Friuli.
     
    2007 signified a true benchmark in Lidia’s career, as she had the esteem honor of cooking for His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI during his travels to New York. Looking ahead to the fall of 2010, Lidia will release her first children’s book, soon to be a holiday classic, “Nonna Tell Me a Story: Lidia’s Christmas Kitchen.” Perhaps the single most important quality that Lidia shares is her belief that it’s not only the food on the table that makes the meal, it’s the people who join around the table who bring the meal to life. Her signature line: “Tutti a tavola a mangiare!” means “Everybody to the table to eat!”. This common phrase, in its simplicity, could possibly be Lidia’s true recipe for success.
     
    Joe Bastianich’s life charts a culinary adventure that ends with this nice Italian boy becoming one of America’s premier restaurateurs and winemakers.

    Following a year working in finance on Wall Street, Joe spent a year traveling through Italy, working in restaurants and on vineyards, digging himself deeper into his rich heritage. Upon returning to New York, he partnered with his mother, Chef Lidia Bastianich, to open Becco, which quickly became a New York City favorite.  Soon after, Joe became partners with Mario Batali and together they established some of New York’s best restaurants, including the legendary Babbo Ristorante e Enoteca, Lupa Osteria Romana, Esca, Casa Mono, Bar Jamόn, Otto Enoteca Pizzeria and the much storied Del Posto. Along the way, he has conquered Las Vegas with Enoteca San Marco, B&B Ristorante and Carnevino, and Los Angeles with Pizzeria and Osteria Mozza.  Closer to home, Joe and Mario opened Tarry Lodge in Port Chester, NY.  

    Joe has also established vineyards including: Azienda Agricola Bastianich in his ancestral Friuli-Venezia Giulia; La Mozza s.r.l., established in Maremma, Tuscany in collaboration with Lidia and Mario; Tritono, created with California winemaker Steve Clifton and Argentine enologist Matias Mayol in the Malbec-growing region of Mendoza; and Agricola Brandini, in Barolo, La Morra. Joe Bastianich’s books on Italian wine, Vino Italiano, and its companion buying guide, written with sommelier and journalist David Lynch, are recognized as the ne plus ultra of the genre.  He has received Outstanding Wine and Spirits Professional Awards from Bon Appétit magazine and James Beard Foundation, and in 2008 the James Beard Foundation honored him once again by presenting he and Mario with the much revered Outstanding Restaurateur Award.  Joe is also a regular guest on the Today Show, where he shares his down-to-earth expertise.

    After a life of nearly Romanesque eating and drinking, Joe took up the challenge to run the New York Marathon, losing a significant amount of weight and transforming himself in the process. When Joe is not working the dining room at one of his many restaurants or in Italy tending his vines, he can be found at his home in Greenwich, CT, playing guitar and spending time with his wife, Deanna, and their three children, whom he counts as his greatest achievements to date.  

     
    Tanya Bastianich Manuali, PhD,  is Lidia’s daughter and has been immersed in Italian culture her entire life. Tanya graduated from Georgetown University summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts in Art History.   Her junior year was spent abroad in Florence, Italy, studying Italian Renaissance art history, which was to become her passion. She continued her studies with a full scholarship for a Masters program from Syracuse University, specializing in Italian Renaissance art history. This two year program, which took place in Florence Italy was the beginning of Tanya’s six year sojourn in Italy, in particular living in the city that was the cradle of the Renaissance, Florence. Tanya continued her studies with a partial merit based scholarship at Oxford University (UK), again focusing on Italian Renaissance art history. She completed her PhD in 2000.
     
    In 1996 Tanya launched, together with her mother Lidia and partner Shelly Burgess Nicotra, Esperienze Italiane, a small upscale tour company focusing on Italian food, wine and art.   She also oversees the development of Lidia’s product lines such as Lidia’s Flavors of Italy and co-authored "Lidia’s Italy" and most recently, Lidia Cooks from the Heart of Italy: A Feast of 175 Regional Recipes, both published by Alfred A. Knopf.
     
    Tanya is married to a Roman, Corrado Manuali and lives in New York with their two children, Lorenzo and Julia.

    _______
     
    Founded in 1980, NOIAW is a network of women committed to promoting the culture and accomplishments of women of Italian ancestry with a special emphasis on leading and supporting Italian American women in their educational and professional advancement. As the premier organization for women of Italian heritage, NOIAW serves its members through cultural programs and networking opportunities, and serves young women through nationally acclaimed scholarship, mentoring and cultural exchange programs.  
     
    For more information about NOIAW, its members and programs, or to become a member visit NOIAW's Webpage or call (212) 642-2003. Facebook users can become a fan of NOIAW by logging onto Facebook, entering “NOIAW” as a search term, and then clicking “Become a fan.”
     
    Contact: 

    Maria Tamburri, Executive Director, [email protected], 212-642-2003

     
    NATIONAL ORGANIZATION OF ITALIAN AMERICAN WOMEN
    25 West 43rd Street, Room 1005, New York, NY 10036
    T: 212.642.2003 • F: 212.642.2006 • Email: [email protected]

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  • Events: Reports

    Comando e Controllo. The "State of Exception" on the 1st Anniversary from L'Aquila Earthquake


    A year ago, on April 9 2009, an earthquake hit Abruzzo and destroyed its capital, L'Aquila.


    People from all over the world showed the victims of that tragedy their sympathy and closeness through a wide range  of initiatives, meant to support the local populations both directly and indirectly. Millions of dollars were sent over to the local population to help rebuild houses, churches, schools, streets, and squares.


    A year from then thousands and thousands still live in terrible conditions, confined in tents with no running water, having fought the freezing winter and getting ready to face the extreme summer hit. They send their kids to schools that are barracks; their elders are recovered in ill-equipped hospitals... Most of them have no hope to have their life back any soon.


    The Italian-American Community in New York did not forget them. On April 6 the New School's Johnson/Kaplan Hall will host the screening of "Comando&Controllo. State of Exception" directed by Alberto Puliafito and produced by Fulvio Nebbia.


    The documentary denounces how the Berlusconi government used the earthquake emergency to suspend civil liberties, bypass the law, and transform the Civil Protection Agency into a join stock company removed from parliamentary oversight. It highlights how it has been the first step towards making the state of exception the normal functioning of Italian democracy.


    The screening of the documentary will be followed by a discussion between director Alberto Puliafito and journalist and author Alexander Stille, moderated by Anna Di Lellio, lecturer at the New School, and sociologist, journalist and former United Nations consultant


    The New School's Johnson/Kaplan Hall

    5th Floor Auditorium, Room 510

    66 West 12th Street (between 5th&6th Avenue) - 6:30 pm

  • Comando e Controllo. The "State of Exception". Un anno dal terremoto dell'Aquila

    Il 6 aprile presso la New School sarà presentato il controverso documentario "Comando & Controllo" di Alberto Puliafito. Si tratta di un'accurata e documentata denuncia sull'abbandono della citta dell'Aquila che ha subito, ormai un anno fà,  il terremoto.

    Dalle parole di Anna Di Lellio che presenterà il documentario e modererà il dibattito tra il regista/autore Alberto Puliafito  ed il noto giornalista americano Alexander Stille.

    Si tratta di: "Interviste con funzionari e volontari della protezione civile, ma soprattutto aquilani attivi nel movimento civico: avvocati, storici, antropologi, studenti, che svelano il modo in cui la protezione civile ha messo silenzio una cittadinanza vittima del terremoto nel nome dell'emergenza e dell'efficienza, per dirigere dall'alto un'enorme operazione di costruzione non voluta,non pianificata, e non eseguita in armonia con le leggi e il rispetto del territorio.

    Il film si chiude però con la mobilitazione degli aquilani nel movimento delle carriole - cosiddetto - che cerca di riaprire la città, dopo un anno di completo abbandono, e di lavorare allo sgombero delle macerie. Il movimento è iniziato non a caso all'inizio di febbraio, quando cioè è  finito lo stato d'assedio imposto dalla Protezione Civile."

    The New School's Johnson/Kaplan Hall
    5th Floor Auditorium, Room 510
    66 West 12th Street (between 5th&6th Avenue) - 6:30 pm
     

    *****

    Riportiamo dal libro "Potere assoluto" di Manuele Bonaccorsi (Edizioni Alegre, 2009) un estratto sul tema.

    Il 7 settembre del 2001 Berlusconi, da poco eletto Presidente del Consiglio per la prima volta, cancella per decreto l'Agenzia di Protezione Civile, diretta da Franco Barberi, organo indipendente sottoposto alla vigilanza del Ministero degli Interni e della Corte dei Conti, che basa la sua azione sulle organizzazioni di volontariato. Con il suo decreto Berlusconi la trasforma in un dipartimento della Presidenza del Consiglio e chiama Guido Bertolaso a dirigerlo con poteri ampissimi. Gli consente di agire in deroga ad ogni legge vigente nello stato Italiano. E non solo nei dichiarati stati di emergenza, ma anche per i grandi eventi. Viene così a decadere quello che fino ad allora era stato il compito della Protezione civile: prevenire le calamità, svolgendo attività atte ad evitare o ridurre al minimo le conseguenze degli eventi naturali, intervenendo per mitigarne il rischio.
     

    Dal 2001 ad oggi sono stati dichiarate decine di grandi eventi, e le attività di prevenzione sono state drasticamente abbandonate. Sulle ordinanze, legittimate dallo stato di emergenza, non possono intervenire i due organi di controllo dello Stato: Corte dei Conti e Corte Costituzionale. La protezione civile vede nelle sue mani un pozzo senza fondo dal quale poter attingere a proprio piacimento, senza dover rendere conto ad alcuno. Bertolaso è detentore del potere assoluto, con un solo padrone: il presidente del consiglio. Ed è talmente trasversale da riuscire a passare indenne anche con il governo Prodi.

    Ecco che l'istituzione nata per affrontare le calamità diventa una calamità essa stessa. E' ovvio che, quando ci si dichiara esercito del fare, in barba a tutte le leggi, la democrazia sia in serio pericolo. E questo può accadere con un evento catastrofico, ma anche per una visita del Papa, o un'emergenza traffico o spazzatura,i mondiali di nuoto,la Vuitton Cup, il G8, fino ad arrivare alla costruzione di un'intera città, come da noi. E l'interesse sono gli appalti, che vengono gestiti senza regole, in nome dell'emergenza. E si usa l'esercito, e tutte le forze dell'ordine, per stabilire chi comanda e chi deve obbedire. E si usano art director, esperti di immagine e di comunicazione, con consulenze esterne pagate a peso d'oro. Per convincere i più deboli, e quelli che non vogliono vedere 

    Lo stipendio base di un funzionario di terza area è di 42,400 euro annui. Se questo funzionario viene in missione a L'Aquila, scatta subito un'indennità  di 70 euro al giorno, più i rimborsi delle spese. Nonché una speciale indennità onnicomprensiva pari a duecento ore di straordinario festivo e notturno. In soldoni, un funzionario qui è costato a tutti gli Italiani più di settemila euro al mese. Ben pagati i nostri protettori. Però ci tengono a dirci, ogni volta che hanno l'occasione di parlare con noi, che si stanno sacrificando fino allo stremo delle loro forze. E per spirito di abnegazione. Lo sanno fare talmente bene che gli Aquilani sono convinti di doverli ringraziare per il resto dei loro giorni. A capo chino. "Bertolaso è uno di noi", sento dire da più parti. Bertolaso è il padrone assoluto, non ha mai consultato i rappresentanti della cittadinanza, ed ha un reddito di un milione e mezzo di euro all'anno. Che rappresenta solo il danaro che intasca "visibilmente".

    Qui a L'Aquila ha deciso, con una deroga all'articolo 188 della legge 167 sugli appalti pubblici, che i subappalti possono arrivare fino al 50 per cento del valore delle opere, contro il 30 stabilito dalla legge italiana. Ha spalancato le porte alla criminalità organizzata ed agli sfruttatori di manovalanza. Non si fanno controlli sui cantieri del progetto c.a.s.e. Lì si deve andar di fretta. Non importa se non si osservano affatto le leggi di sicurezza, o se gli operai sono regolarmente assunti. L'organizzazione del lavoro è condotta senza contrattare con i sindacati. Ed ora il Governo sta predisponendo un decreto legge secretato in cui si prevede, tra l'altro, il trasferimento di competenze dal Dipartimento per la Protezione Civile ad una costituenda S.p.A.

    Bertolaso lascia L'Aquila solo nominalmente: ha già dato gli ordini ed i nomi di chi gestirà il dopo emergenza. 
     

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  • Justice Dominic Massaro Introduces Hon. Gianfranco Fini


    . . . For my part, I am awed and honored. Awed by this impressive gathering of 1,000 Italian American leaders, to pay tribute to one of Italy’s commanding personalities; honored by the committee’s decision to allow me to bring my friend, our friend, Gianfranco Fini, to the podium . . .


    Allow me at the onset to quite accurately observe that the last occasion when the Italian American community filled this ballroom to tonight’s capacity was for no less a personality than a President of the Republic . . .


    Whenever the best interests of the United States can be better served by supporting the best interests of her trustworthy friend and ally, the Republic of Italy, then it is our consensus that these best interests be supported. And, it follows, in any rational calculus of American foreign policy-making vis-a-vis Italy, surely the name Gianfranco Fini looms large.


    Fifteen years ago, in 1995, I was part of a small delegation to receive tonight’s guest. He had just been elected head of a new formation on the right of the Italian political scene, the National Alliance. We spent three days on circuit; a reception at home followed.


    There was criticism, but the friendship forged then, in the first hour, and reconfirmed over the years, has never been regretted by me precisely because of the quality of the man, a man who defied expectations, steadily grew in stature, transforming himself with bold steps over the course of a career of long and splendid service to the Republic: Party Leader, Member of Parliament, Deputy Prime Minister, Delegate to the European Convention, Minister of Foreign Affairs, and, presently, President of the Chamber of Deputies, the Speaker of the popular house of the legislative branch of Italian governance.


    That Gianfranco Fini is an intellectual is widely acknowledged; one need only to read his new book “The Future of Freedom” to garner this conclusion. Aimed at a new generation and seeking a post-ideological and ever widening constituency, his skill at blending intellectualism with realpolitik sees him today not only as the foremost articulator of a conservative political agenda, and the prime spokesperson for what is likewise a cherished American legal doctrine, that of “ordered liberty,” but also as an exponent of those values

    —

    freedom, equality, economic and social justice 

    —

      central to the dignity of the human persona and fundamental to the underpinnings of a democratic state.


    A man of admirable comportment and sterling rectitude, he applies a steady hand of parliamentary leadership acknowledged by all for its fairness, equanimity and independence. He does so without fear or favor, sympathy or prejudice. Heir apparent to Italy’s governing coalition, he is center stage as one of the peninsula’s top three ranking officials. It is for all these reasons that he was received in the Halls of Congress these days.


    Gianfranco Fini is firmly committed to the bilateral friendship and goodwill existing between Italy and the United States. He enjoys the admiration of the Italian American leadership since the first encounter 15 years ago. Mr. Speaker, on behalf of the community that embraces you, do accept this silver tray as a remembrance of this important visit, and as a token of our continuing esteem and highest regard.
  • Life & People

    Remembrance Day 2010. Introducing This Year's Topics

    January 27 marks the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, the largest Nazi death camp. In 2005, the United Nations General Assembly designated this day as International Holocaust Remembrance Day (IHRD), an annual day of commemoration to honor the victims of the Nazi era.

    The Giornata della Memoria was established by the Italian Parliament on July 11 2000. Since that moment, every year all the Italian institutions located in New York collaborate to organize a full calendar of events to commemorate this historic milestone. The main one will take place on January 27 (9 am - 4 pm) outside of the Consulate General of Italy (690 Park Avenue, NYC), and will consist in the reading of all the names of the Jewish victims of Fascism. It is the only outdoors initiative organized in the city for the occasion.

    i-Italy interviewed Natalia Indrimi, Director of the Primo Levi Center in New York, who introduced us to the main characteristics of Remembrance Day 2010, and explained the meaning of this commemoration after more than 60 years from the fall of Fascist dictatorship in Italy

    Once again all the Italian institutions have collaborated to organize a full calendar of events to commemorate Remembrance Day. What are this year's topics?
    This year we will discuss two topics: the history of the Jewish community of Rome and civilian internment in Fascist Italy. 

    Why focus on the Jewish community of Rome?

    The history of the Jews of Rome is generally not very well-known. Not many people realize that the Jews of Rome represent the oldest Jewish community in the Western world.  It embodies the signs of the main historical changes lived in both Judaism and Western civilization. In the past few months  the community has been the protagonist of a conflict whose relevance can only be understood if analyzed from an historic point of view. 
     

    Its openness towards dialogue with other religions (Catholicism like Islam) and its natural vocation to solidarity have clashed with the news of the  beatification of Pius XII:  as we know the Pope's silence before the persecution of Jewish citizens during the Fascist Era is considered controversial, and until the Vatican will accept to open its archives to scholars there will be no way to ascertain where is the truth and build a viable debate on it.

    Can you explain to the American audience the meaning Remembrance Day embodies for all the European countries that celebrate it?

    Giorno della Memoria is the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz and was chosen by several European countries to remember and reflect on the dismantling of civil and human rights that brought to the genocide of the Jews, and the persecution of other groups, including homosexuals, handicapped, and political dissidents. It represents a moment of reflection for all those societies within which these crimes took place. It  symbolizes the end of a period of obscurantism and destruction that radically changed the destiny of societies that had produced culture and civilization. In this sense it not only a Jewish commemoration, but also an occasion for all the descendants of the victims and the perpretrators to come together in the name of memory.

    Why is it important to commemorate such a day in the USA, and in New York in particular?

    New York is a world capital and at the same time is a mosaic of realities that do not communicate with one another.

    People tend to see things in terms of ethnic specificity. A moment of reflection that overcomes this insularity and engages on the same topic, is always important. The ongoing debate has helped dispel many myths on Italy and Fascism that have become rooted among both Italian and Jewish Americans. 

    Although they mark two different historic moment, at the beginning Giorno della Memoria was automatically compared  to Yom Ha Shoah.The latter is a Jewish commemoration that took as its symbol the uprise of the Warsaw Ghetto as a way to support the ideal of a Jew willing to fight for a new future. The estabilishment of  Yom HaShoah caused a debate, as many suggested to focus on January 27 with its different set of meanings. Today both dates are commemorated. I think that the dialectics between them brings on key questions on a chapter of history which is in many ways coming to a end.

    Why is the history and contemporary situation of the Italian Jews so little known in the US, and in particular among the members of the American Jewish community? Can this be an occasion to acknowledge people about it?

    Sure. This is a part of our mission. Centro Primo Levi is the only English-language organization that offers a comprehensive look at the Italian Jewish World. The challenges of cultural translation are many and complex. However, as you can see on our website, new books, articles, conferences, and courses are added every day and the interest in the history of Italian Jews is getting substantial. 

    REMEMBRANCE DAY IN NEW YORK
    FULL PROGRAM

    January 27, 9:00 am - 4:00 pm
    READING OF THE NAMES

    Consulate General of Italy

    Park Avenue at 68th Street

    Reading of the names of the Jews deported from Italy and the Italian territories

    RSVP: [email protected]

    ................

    January 27-February 15

    ART & MEMORY: INSTALLATION BY JACK SAL

    Italian Cultural Institute

    686 Park Avenue, NYC

    De/Portees

    A multi screen installation by Jack Sal

    in memory of the Italian Deportees.

    ................

    January 27, 6:00 pm

    READING TESTIMONIES

    Center for Jewish History

    15 West 16th Street, NYC

    Reading from "Il Libro della Shoah Italiana"

    Edited by Marcello Pezzetti

    ................

    January 31, 1:30 film; 3:30 discussion

    MUSSOLINI'S CAMPS: THE INTERNMENT OF JEWISH CIVILIANS IN FASCIST ITALY

    Museum of Jewish Heritage

    36 Battery Place, NYC. 

     

    Film Screening: The Jews of Fossoli

    Directed by Ruggero Gabbai (Italy, 2006, 50 minutes, Italian w/English sbt.)

     

    Alessandro Cassin (journalist) in conversation with Carlo Spartaco Capogreco (historian, author of The Duce's Camps), Doris Schechter, hidden as a child with her family in Italy.

    ................

    February 1, 6:00 pm

    FORCED CONVERSIONS IN PAPAL ROME

    NYU Casa Italiana Zerilli Marimò

    24 West 12th Street, NYC

    Film screening: Confortorio

    Directed by Paolo Benvenuti, (Italy, 1992, 90 min. Italian w/English subtitles).

    Based on a true story, Confortorio narrates the vicissitudes of two young Roman Jews who are imprisoned under the accusation of theft during the pontificate of Clement XII, in 1736. The night before their execution, the fathers of the Confraternita of San Giovanni Decollato try to force them to embrace Christianity.

     

    ................

    February 2, 6:30 pm

    OCTOBER 16th, 1943: THE DEPORTATION OF THE JEWS OF ROME

    JCC Manhattan

    334 Amsterdam Avenue, NYC  

    Film Screening: "Una Storia Romana"


    This is the most recent document and probably one of the last testimonies of the round up of the Ghetto of Rome. Journalist and writer Pupa Garribba interviews Enrica Sermoneta, who, as a young girl, fortuitously escaped deportation amidst generosity and betrayal. Told in a direct and unconventional style, filtered through the lens of 67 years of debate on the "black Saturday," the story raises old dilemmas and new questions on those days and ours. A post-screening discussion with Pupa Garribba will follow.


    An Interview with Enrica Sermoneta

    Directed by Pupa Garribba

     ................

    February 2, 6:30 pm

    OCTOBER 16th, 1943: THE DEPORTATION OF THE JEWS OF ROME

    Museum of Jewish Heritage

    36 Battery Place, NYC

     Film Screening: The Gold of Rome

    By Carlo Lizzani (1961, 110 min, Italian w/English sbt)


    The Gold of Rome is the first filmic representation of the story of the German blackmail and eventual deportation of the Jews of Rome. Lizzani's rendition of situations and characters and his depiction of rituals and places illuminates the life and spirit of Roman Jewry, setting this semi-fictionalize document apart from other Holocaust films. With a a touch of sentimentality and a genuine understanding of the nuances of the story, The Gold of Rome delves into the dilemmas, conflicts, and cultural assumptions that lead the Jews of Rome to fall in what turned out to be a fatal trap.

      ................

    February 16, 5:00 pm

    THE GHETTO OF ROME

    Italian Academy at Columbia University 

    1161 Amsterdam Avenue, NYC

     Lecture: The Ghetto of Rome

    Kenneth Stow (University of Haifa)

    Jews have been residents of Rome since before the days of Julius Caesar, but the 16th century brought great challenges to their identity and survival in the form of Ghettoization. Created to expedite conversion and cultural dissolution, the Ghetto had an opposite effect. The Jews of Rome developed a microculture that ensured continuity and distinctiveness. The ability to settle disputes relating to marriage, divorce, inheritance, and other internal matters gave Jews the perception of themselves as actors of their own affairs and developed a unique cultural identity that permeates the community to these days.

      ................

    February 18, 6:00 pm

    THEATER PERFORMANCE | SALONICCO '43

    Directed by Ferdinando Ceriani.

    Script by Ferdinando Ceriani, Gian Paolo Cavarai, Antonia Ferrari

    With: Massimo Wertmuller, Evelina Meghnagi,

    Carla Ferraro, Domenico Ascione, Arnaldo Vacca

     

     
  • Life & People

    Remembrance Day 2010. Introducing This Year's Topics

    January 27 marks the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, the largest Nazi death camp. In 2005, the United Nations General Assembly designated this day as International Holocaust Remembrance Day (IHRD), an annual day of commemoration to honor the victims of the Nazi era.

    The Giornata della Memoria was established by the Italian Parliament on July 11 2000. Since that moment, every year all the Italian institutions located in New York collaborate to organize a full calendar of events to commemorate this historic milestone. The main one will take place on January 27 (9 am - 4 pm) outside of the Consulate General of Italy (690 Park Avenue, NYC), and will consist in the reading of all the names of the Jewish victims of Fascism. It is the only outdoors initiative organized in the city for the occasion.

    i-Italy interviewed Natalia Indrimi, Director of the Primo Levi Center in New York, who introduced us to the main characteristics of Remembrance Day 2010, and explained the meaning of this commemoration after more than 60 years from the fall of Fascist dictatorship in Italy

    Once again all the Italian institutions have collaborated to organize a full calendar of events to commemorate Remembrance Day. What are this year's topics?
    This year we will discuss two topics: the history of the Jewish community of Rome and civilian internment in Fascist Italy. 

    Why focus on the Jewish community of Rome?

    The history of the Jews of Rome is generally not very well-known. Not many people realize that the Jews of Rome represent the oldest Jewish community in the Western world.  It embodies the signs of the main historical changes lived in both Judaism and Western civilization. In the past few months  the community has been the protagonist of a conflict whose relevance can only be understood if analyzed from an historic point of view. 
     

    Its openness towards dialogue with other religions (Catholicism like Islam) and its natural vocation to solidarity have clashed with the news of the  beatification of Pius XII:  as we know the Pope's silence before the persecution of Jewish citizens during the Fascist Era is considered controversial, and until the Vatican will accept to open its archives to scholars there will be no way to ascertain where is the truth and build a viable debate on it.

    Can you explain to the American audience the meaning Remembrance Day embodies for all the European countries that celebrate it?

    Giorno della Memoria is the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz and was chosen by several European countries to remember and reflect on the dismantling of civil and human rights that brought to the genocide of the Jews, and the persecution of other groups, including homosexuals, handicapped, and political dissidents. It represents a moment of reflection for all those societies within which these crimes took place. It  symbolizes the end of a period of obscurantism and destruction that radically changed the destiny of societies that had produced culture and civilization. In this sense it not only a Jewish commemoration, but also an occasion for all the descendants of the victims and the perpretrators to come together in the name of memory.

    Why is it important to commemorate such a day in the USA, and in New York in particular?

    New York is a world capital and at the same time is a mosaic of realities that do not communicate with one another.

    People tend to see things in terms of ethnic specificity. A moment of reflection that overcomes this insularity and engages on the same topic, is always important. The ongoing debate has helped dispel many myths on Italy and Fascism that have become rooted among both Italian and Jewish Americans. 

    Although they mark two different historic moment, at the beginning Giorno della Memoria was automatically compared  to Yom Ha Shoah.The latter is a Jewish commemoration that took as its symbol the uprise of the Warsaw Ghetto as a way to support the ideal of a Jew willing to fight for a new future. The estabilishment of  Yom HaShoah caused a debate, as many suggested to focus on January 27 with its different set of meanings. Today both dates are commemorated. I think that the dialectics between them brings on key questions on a chapter of history which is in many ways coming to a end.

    Why is the history and contemporary situation of the Italian Jews so little known in the US, and in particular among the members of the American Jewish community? Can this be an occasion to acknowledge people about it?

    Sure. This is a part of our mission. Centro Primo Levi is the only English-language organization that offers a comprehensive look at the Italian Jewish World. The challenges of cultural translation are many and complex. However, as you can see on our website, new books, articles, conferences, and courses are added every day and the interest in the history of Italian Jews is getting substantial. 

    REMEMBRANCE DAY IN NEW YORK
    FULL PROGRAM

    January 27, 9:00 am - 4:00 pm
    READING OF THE NAMES

    Consulate General of Italy

    Park Avenue at 68th Street

    Reading of the names of the Jews deported from Italy and the Italian territories

    RSVP: [email protected]

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    January 27-February 15

    ART & MEMORY: INSTALLATION BY JACK SAL

    Italian Cultural Institute

    686 Park Avenue, NYC

    De/Portees

    A multi screen installation by Jack Sal

    in memory of the Italian Deportees.

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    January 27, 6:00 pm

    READING TESTIMONIES

    Center for Jewish History

    15 West 16th Street, NYC

    Reading from "Il Libro della Shoah Italiana"

    Edited by Marcello Pezzetti

    ................

    January 31, 1:30 film; 3:30 discussion

    MUSSOLINI'S CAMPS: THE INTERNMENT OF JEWISH CIVILIANS IN FASCIST ITALY

    Museum of Jewish Heritage

    36 Battery Place, NYC. 

     

    Film Screening: The Jews of Fossoli

    Directed by Ruggero Gabbai (Italy, 2006, 50 minutes, Italian w/English sbt.)

     

    Alessandro Cassin (journalist) in conversation with Carlo Spartaco Capogreco (historian, author of The Duce's Camps), Doris Schechter, hidden as a child with her family in Italy.

    ................

    February 1, 6:00 pm

    FORCED CONVERSIONS IN PAPAL ROME

    NYU Casa Italiana Zerilli Marimò

    24 West 12th Street, NYC

    Film screening: Confortorio

    Directed by Paolo Benvenuti, (Italy, 1992, 90 min. Italian w/English subtitles).

    Based on a true story, Confortorio narrates the vicissitudes of two young Roman Jews who are imprisoned under the accusation of theft during the pontificate of Clement XII, in 1736. The night before their execution, the fathers of the Confraternita of San Giovanni Decollato try to force them to embrace Christianity.

     

    ................

    February 2, 6:30 pm

    OCTOBER 16th, 1943: THE DEPORTATION OF THE JEWS OF ROME

    JCC Manhattan

    334 Amsterdam Avenue, NYC  

    Film Screening: "Una Storia Romana"


    This is the most recent document and probably one of the last testimonies of the round up of the Ghetto of Rome. Journalist and writer Pupa Garribba interviews Enrica Sermoneta, who, as a young girl, fortuitously escaped deportation amidst generosity and betrayal. Told in a direct and unconventional style, filtered through the lens of 67 years of debate on the "black Saturday," the story raises old dilemmas and new questions on those days and ours. A post-screening discussion with Pupa Garribba will follow.


    An Interview with Enrica Sermoneta

    Directed by Pupa Garribba

     ................

    February 2, 6:30 pm

    OCTOBER 16th, 1943: THE DEPORTATION OF THE JEWS OF ROME

    Museum of Jewish Heritage

    36 Battery Place, NYC

     Film Screening: The Gold of Rome

    By Carlo Lizzani (1961, 110 min, Italian w/English sbt)


    The Gold of Rome is the first filmic representation of the story of the German blackmail and eventual deportation of the Jews of Rome. Lizzani's rendition of situations and characters and his depiction of rituals and places illuminates the life and spirit of Roman Jewry, setting this semi-fictionalize document apart from other Holocaust films. With a a touch of sentimentality and a genuine understanding of the nuances of the story, The Gold of Rome delves into the dilemmas, conflicts, and cultural assumptions that lead the Jews of Rome to fall in what turned out to be a fatal trap.

      ................

    February 16, 5:00 pm

    THE GHETTO OF ROME

    Italian Academy at Columbia University 

    1161 Amsterdam Avenue, NYC

     Lecture: The Ghetto of Rome

    Kenneth Stow (University of Haifa)

    Jews have been residents of Rome since before the days of Julius Caesar, but the 16th century brought great challenges to their identity and survival in the form of Ghettoization. Created to expedite conversion and cultural dissolution, the Ghetto had an opposite effect. The Jews of Rome developed a microculture that ensured continuity and distinctiveness. The ability to settle disputes relating to marriage, divorce, inheritance, and other internal matters gave Jews the perception of themselves as actors of their own affairs and developed a unique cultural identity that permeates the community to these days.

      ................

    February 18, 6:00 pm

    THEATER PERFORMANCE | SALONICCO '43

    Directed by Ferdinando Ceriani.

    Script by Ferdinando Ceriani, Gian Paolo Cavarai, Antonia Ferrari

    With: Massimo Wertmuller, Evelina Meghnagi,

    Carla Ferraro, Domenico Ascione, Arnaldo Vacca

     

     

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