Obj. ID: 50489
Memorials Holocaust Memorial in the Jewish section of the Campo Verano cemetery in Rome, Italy
To the main object: Jewish section of the Campo Verano cemetery in Rome, Italy
Memorial Name
No official name
Who is Comemmorated?
Roman Jewish Holocaust victims
Description (prose):
The monument is in the Jewish section of the Verano cemetery. It is set in the paved area in front of the impressive and vaguely Egyptian-style Beit Tahara (Mortuary Chapel) and put on an axis with the building within a small, oblong raised bed bordered by a stone curb. The stele is set to the back of the oval (closer to the Beit Tahara).
The monument takes the traditional stele form and shapes it. The stele narrows slightly toward the top giving it a somewhat trapezoidal shape when seen front the front. The thickness of the stele narrows as it rises, giving it a wedge-shaped form. The stele is slightly curved with the concave and the back convex. All these adjustments give the monument a supple dynamism, a popular device in Italian modernism of the 1930s, and a distinctive element in the style of architect Angelo di Castro.
There is a small grass area in front of the monument, flanked by concrete containers for flowers, and there are three metal boxes for memorial candles in front.
Inscriptions
On the Tablets of the Law Decoration (Hebrew)
[The 10 Commandments, each abridged to a few words]
אנכי י''י
לא יהיה
לא תשא
זכור את יום
כבד את
לא תנאף
לא תגנב
לא תענה
לא תחמד
Hebrew
לזכר
הקדושים בני קהילתנו שהלכו בשבי אל ארץ אויב
ומסרו נפשותם על קדושת ה' מתוך [ומחמס] יגאל נפשם
Translation: To remember / The martyrs of our community who went into captivity to an enemy land / and they surrendered their souls to the holiness of God [from out of violence], their souls will be redeemed
Italian
Ai duemilanovantuno Ebrei Romani
vittime delle
deportazioni naziste
16 Ottebre 1943 - 4 Giugno 1944
Gli Ebrei Romani posero il 16 Ottobre 1952
27 Tishri 5713
Translation: To the two thousand ninety-one Roman Jews, victims of nazi deportations, October 16, 1943 – June 4, 1944 / The Roman Jews dedicate this 16 October 1952 / 27 Tishri 5713
Commissioned by
The Jewish Community of Rome
sub-set tree:
Base Width: 0.86 meters
The Verano Cemetery's Jewish section was founded in the 1890s with its gate far down the Via Tibertina from the main entrance. Since 1934, when the old Jewish cemetery on the Aventine was destroyed on Mussolini’s orders (for a new road and the aggrandizement of the Circus Maximus) this has been the only Jewish cemetery in the city.
In front of the impressive and vaguely Egyptian style Beit Tahara (Mortuary Chapel) designed by city architect Mario Moretti (1845-1921) is a modest memorial monument designed by Jewish architect Angelo di Castro (who also designed the new Livorno synagogue). This was inaugurated in 1952 and is one of the first Holocaust memorial monuments in Italy.