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Chukkat - Balak - Num. 19-1/25-9
A fascinating meeting was held on February 12th at the Jewish Community, aimed at giving voice to a chapter in Turin’s history that has remained too long forgotten. The evening was opened by ADEI President Eva Vitali Norsa, who, after introducing the guests, emphasized that the event represents the ideal continuation of a previous event in which students from the Albert Einstein High School presented the book “In Your Name,” a work dedicated to the twenty Jewish women persecuted between 1943 and 1944. That first work today found its natural fulfillment and culmination in the in-depth discussion surrounding the laying of the Stumbling Stones, which took place on February 3rd in Piazza Santa Giulia, where the Jewish hospice once stood.
Immediately after the opening, Community Councilor and School Councilor Franca Mortara offered a valuable reflection on the importance of memory as a constant civic commitment in these difficult times, thus introducing the heart of the meeting. Claudio Mercandino, representative of the ANPI “Renato Martorelli” chapter, followed with a speech. He explained the genesis of this historical excavation, born from the desire to preserve the traces of a past carved into the Barriera di Milano area, right near the boys’ high school.
Under the guidance of teachers Alessandro Maurini and Silvia Frabone, the focus was then on the real protagonists: the students. In this context, the value of “passing the baton” between different generations was clearly evident. The fifth-graders proved extremely knowledgeable and confident in reconstructing the historical details of the stories of Lidia Passigli, Ettore Abenaim, and the other residents of the facility deported to Auschwitz. Meanwhile, their third-graders, who had just begun their journey, appeared visibly moved but determined to continue this experience, restoring an identity and historic dignity to these fragile and lonely women. The young people’s reflections were ideally linked to those of Headmaster Marco Chiauzza, who warned the audience about the worrying resurgence of anti-Semitism in contemporary society, describing his students’ work as a necessary expression of awareness and humanity.
At the end of the evening, Community Vice President Anna Segre offered a heartfelt thank you to the students, praising them for discovering and highlighting a forgotten history of Turin’s Judaism, transforming historical research into a concrete hope for the future.
Eva Vitali Norsa
At the bottom of this article, we publish the full text of Councilor Franca Mortara’s speech:
