Conferences: Holocaust and Italy

Overview of the Holocaust Proaram

It was also in 1986 that the first international conference on the role of Italians in the rescue of 47,000 Italian and non-Italian Jews during World War II. That first conference was made possible through a $10,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities and a matching $10,000 grant from the Paulucci Foundation.

With a grant of $167,160 from the National Endowment for the Humanities and $20,000 from the Italian Embassy to continue, throughout the United States for two years, the conference series on the rescue of Jews during World War II in Italy and Italian-occupied territories. The grant was one of 37 awarded in competition with the proposals of 327 colleges and other organizations throughout the U.S. The conference series is entitled "The Holocaust in Southern Europe - Italians and Jews: from Persecution to Rescue and Aid." Most of the conferences of the series have already been held, in Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C. (U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum), Miami Beach, Chicago, New Orleans, Los Angeles and San Francisco; before the close of 1996, the last two conferences of the series will take place in Detroit and Memphis.

Among the many outstanding scholars and other distinguished figures who have participated in the Holocaust conferences are Ruth Feldman (translator of Italian author Primo Levi), Meir Michaelis and the late Menachem Shelah both of Israel, Prof. Susan Zuccotti, Prof. Paul Bookbinder, Prof. Charles Delzell, the late Prof. Claudio Segre, Prof. Philip Cannistraro, Prof. H. Stuart Hughes, Alexander Stille, Andrew Canepa, Ginetta Sagan, Robert Loggia, and many more. Holocaust survivors located throughout the U.S. were given the opportunity to tell their stories, which will also be documented in the NIAF Holocaust conference resource guide to appear in 1997.

Boston, Massachusetts	"The Holocaust in Southern Europe"
Cleveland, Ohio	"Italian, & Jews, Rescue and Aid"
Milford, New Jersey	Raoul Wallenberg Award Conference
Chicago, Illinois	"The Holocaust in Southern Europe"
Rochester, New York	Italy and the Holocaust
Washington, D.C.	Presentation "The Righteous Enemy"
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	"The Holocaust in Southern Europe"
New York City, New York	"The Holocaust in Southern Europe"
Alexandria, Virginia	"The Holocaust in Southern Europe"
Morristown New Jersey	"Rescuers in Italy Day"
Miami, Florida	"The Holocaust in Southern Europe"
New Orleans, Louisiana	"The Holocaust in Southern Europe"
W. Bloomfield, Michigan	"The Holocaust in Southern Europe"
San Francisco, California	"The Holocaust in Southern Europe"
Kensington, Maryland	"Italy and the Holocaust from a Personal Perspective"
Washington, D.C.	The Holocaust in Southern Europe
Rockville, Maryland	Children of Survivors
Beverly Hills, California	"Rescue and Aid During the Holocaust"
Stony Brook University, New York	Symposium "The Italian Jewish Experience"
Washington, D.C.	Presentation of film "A Debt to Honor"
Fairfax, Virginia	Screening of a "Debt to Honor"
New York City, New York	The Holocaust in Southern Europe
Washington, D.C.	NIAF Gala Weekend "Italy and the Holocaust"
Chicago, Illinois	"A Tribute to Robert Benigni" "Italians and Jews Rescue & Aid During the Holocaust"
Washington, D.C.	"Remember the Holocaust"
Williamsburg, Virginia	Italy and the Holocaust
Boston, Massachusetts	Rescue and Resistance World War II and the Present
Potomac, Maryland	"The Italian Liberation Day"
	"The Italian Refuge"

Boston, Massachusetts
"The Holocaust in Southern Europe"

Funded by:

• Boston University
• The National Italian American Foundation
• National Endowment for the Humanities (United States Government)
• Paulucci Foundation
• American Jewish Committee

The first Holocaust in Southern Europe conference was held in 1986 at Boston University hosted by BU President John Silber. World experts from Italy, France, Germany and Canada addressed Italian rescue of Jews in Croatia, Vichy France, Italy, Greece and Albania. Amongst the topics were the life of Mussolini and his relationship with Hitler; life in an Italian internment camp; and the rescue of Jews in Italy and Italian occupied territories. The speakers included Dr. Susan Zuccotti, Prof. Meir Michaelis, Dr. Menachem Shelah, Dr. Carlo Spartaco.