Exhibition on ‘The Persecution of the Jews of Italy’ opens at Winnick Hillel Center

Brian Small
(315) 422-5082 ext 206

Hillel at Syracuse University is hosting the U.S. premiere of the exhibition “1938- 1945: The Persecution of the Jews of Italy” through April 1, 2009. This new exhibition about the Italian Holocaust experience consists of 38 panels of images, photographs and documentation originally created by the Centro Documentazione Ebraica Contemporanea (Contemporary Jewish Documentation Center) in Milan, Italy. Open to the public, it may be viewed from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. at the Winnick Hillel Center for Jewish Life, 102 Walnut Place, Syracuse.

An invitation-only opening program/reception will take place at the center on Wednesday, Oct. 29, with the reception at 7:15 p.m. followed by the program and viewing of the exhibition at 8 p.m. Guest speaker is Annalisa Capristo of the Center for American Studies in Rome, who served as contributing scholar to the Contemporary Jewish Documentation Center on the development of the exhibition.

The program will focus on the Holocaust in Italy, which is a lesser-known story than the experience in Eastern Europe. In fall 2007, SU students participating in SU Abroad’s Florence program translated the exhibition’s text into English in their Italian classes as part of a study of Fascist Italy and the Second World War. The exhibition was first presented at the SU Florence Art Gallery in January 2008.

“We are most fortunate to be able to host the American premiere of this important exhibit for the benefit of our university and broader general community,” says Lowell H. Lustig, executive director of Hillel at Syracuse University.

The event is part of a weeklong interdisciplinary program titled “Symposium on Holocaust Education: A tribute To The Voices Lost” and takes place on the first evening of a three-day academic conference on the Holocaust being held at SU under the auspices of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum and the Holocaust Education Program of SU’s School of Education.

The symposium is presented through the cooperative efforts of SU Florence, SU’s College of Visual and Performing Arts, SU’s School of Education, Hillel at Syracuse University, Syracuse University Library, the University Lectures series and the Judaic Studies Program in SU’s College of Arts and Sciences.

Hillel at Syracuse University is part of Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life, the largest Jewish campus organization in the world, which provides opportunities for Jewish students at more than 500 colleges and universities to explore and celebrate their Jewish identity through its global network of regional centers, campus foundations and Hillel student organizations. Hillel is working to provoke a renaissance of Jewish life by creating a pluralistic, welcoming and inclusive environment for Jewish college students, where they are encouraged to grow intellectually, spiritually and socially. Hillel helps students find a balance in being distinctively Jewish and universally human by encouraging them to pursue tzedek (social justice), tikkun olam (repairing the world) and Jewish learning.

For more information on the Italian Holocaust exhibition, contact Brian Small or Lustig at Hillel at Syracuse University, (315) 422-5082, or visit http://www.suhillel.org.

NOTE TO EDITORS: Wednesday night’s opening program/reception is open to media coverage. Among those in attendance will be SU students Lauren Surovi and Jaimie Dalessio, who will speak as part of the program. Surovi interviewed Holocaust survivors, and Dalessio helped translate the exhibition into English.