The memory of the 16 October 1943-roundup and deportation of more than one thousand Jews in Rome still provides an open wound among the Jewish families and is cause of distress in sensible Christian contexts, mainly the ones involved in the inter-religious dialogue.
An original and emotional way to keep and share this memory has been put into effect under the name of "Ricordiamo insieme" (Let us remember together) by the homonymous association founded by a married couple, member of the German community in Italy and the nieces of Settimia Spizzichino, (the only woman among the sixteen survivors of this deportation).
A direct convergence of aims and feelings led our association, "Progetto Memoria", to get involved and become partner of the events "Ricordiamo insieme", organized annually in October, since 2013.
The major goal to create a path of remembrance, connecting the distinguished sentiment of Jews, Christians, Italians and Germans, has been achieved throughout a continuous sharing of experience and ideas, resulting in three different moments: the first one takes place in St. Peter's Square, within the Vatican area and is followed by a thousand step-walk to the near Military College, where the participants are welcome by the Military Authorities for a memorial cerimony, in the same courtyard where the prisoners were kept for two days, probably waiting for a sign - that never came - from the Holy See, before being taken to their final destination, Auschwitz-Birkenau. The third part of this project consists of a conference, held the following Sunday.
All the meetings in the different locations involve testimonies of witnesses, memory and postmemory carried out by the familiars of the victims and the generation "after", lectures of scholars, personalities of Catholic and Protestant Church; besides, as a framework, there are art and music performances, images, films and documentaries. Students and teachers are invited and representatives from highschools take active part in the events.
In 2020, due to the Covid-19 pandemic escalation, which occurred right in the month of October, with the subsequent tightening of the rules adopted by the Italian Government, a very difficult situation was to be faced, with the serious risk of cancelling all the activities already scheduled. There was in fact the challenge of maintaining the rules, along with the necessity of preserving a memory, that has left a deep trace, not yet healed by the passing of time.
The necessity of keeping physical distances forced to change the time-frame, the number of participants and the location for the conference, which was drastically cut to a smaller event, while, fortunately there was the chance to maintain the heart of the celebration at St. Peter's Square and at the Military College.
The feeling of uncertainty and the fact of being spread in large spaces, caused a huge emotion and an empathy never felt in the previous editions. The small of number people present indeed represented who had not had the possibility to be there and created the intangible mood of the closing of a circle.
