Progetto Memoria is a non-profit cultural association committed to the transmission of memory and history of the Shoah and anti-Jewish persecution in Italy. Its work is aimed at struggling against antisemitism and every form of racism and discrimination, through education and knowledge mainly of the young generation.
Its action is based on meetings and lectures held by witnesses, death camp survivors, experts in historical, scientific, literary and artistic fields and on teachers training. Its activities started in September 2003, as a cooperation between the Cultural Centre of the Jewish Community of Rome and the Jewish Contemporary Documentation Centre (CDEC) Foundation. All its members are volunteers.
Organizazion and positions
Founding Member and Honorary President was Piero Terracina Z”L, one of the most active among the the survivors of the Shoah.
Founding Member, First President and current Honorary President is On. Enrico Modigliani.
Progetto Memoria teams-up with:
- Foundation Jewish Contemporary Documentation Center – CDEC (whose logo is enclosed in the PM’s one)
- Italian Union of Jewish Communities (UCEI)
- Jewish Community of Rome – Cultural Department (DiBAC)
- Jewish Community of Naples
- Italian Jewish Centre “Il Pitigliani” (Legal seat and office)
- Foundation Museum of the Shoah
Progetto Memoria also partners with two associations:
Arte in Memoria in relation to the didactic project, concerning the Gunter Demnig’s Stolpersteine installation in Rome.
Ricordiamo Insieme, in the remembering of the 16th of October 1943 round-up and deportation of the Jews in Rome, that yearly gathers Christians, Jews, Italians and Germans.
Progetto Memoria has also partaken some initiatives of the International Study Centre “Primo Levi” with the purpose of promoting the reading and thorough analysis of some of the Levi’s works.
Action
Since 2003, PM has been working with schools, organizations and associations throughout the Country, with prevalence of Rome and Central and Southern Italy, carrying out the following activities:
- meetings and conferences with students and citizens in schools, cultural and religious associations
- guided tours to exhibitions and to the Jewish Quarter of Rome
- presentations of books, and films
- original researches, school and University projects
Since its foundation, over 20,000 people a year have been reached, mainly school pupils and teachers.
Teachers and cultural operators training
Progetto Memoria conceived and organized many courses and seminars with different partners, such as the CDEC Foundation, the Italian Union of Jewish Communities, the Jewish Communities of Rome and Naples, Local Authorities such as Regione Lazio and Provincia di Roma, the International Centre “Primo Levi” and others.
Research, Publications and Academic Studies
Progetto Memoria supported the funding of two University research grants (Università della Tuscia) directed to the historical work of PhD Dr. Elisa Guida and finalized to the books “La strada di casa. Il ritorno in Italia dei sopravvissuti alla Shoah”, (published by Viella, Rome 2017) e “Senza perdere la dignità. Una biografia di Piero Terracina” (published by Viella, Rome 2021).
Progetto Memoria conceived and carried out the issues of two editions of the book Anni Spezzati. Storie e destini nell’Italia della Shoah by Lia Frassineti e Lia Tagliacozzo, Giunti – Progetti Educativi, supported by: Fondazione Roma, Jewish Community of Rome, Federazione Nazionale Insegnanti (FNISM) di Roma e Lazio and CDEC Foundation, distributed free of charge to the schools.
Progetto Memoria contributed to the setting up of the Memory Studies Association Regional Working Group Family Memories and Intergenerational Exchange promoted by professors of the Department of European, American and inter-cultural Studies, Sapienza – Università di Roma.
