Obj. ID: 51186
Jewish Funerary Art Holocaust Memorial Plaque in the Jewish Cemetery in Saluzzo, Italy
Memorial Name
No official name
Who is Commemorated?
The 29 Jews deported from Saluzzo during the Holocaust
Description:
A plaque is affixed to the exterior of the wall of the entrance building of the Jewish cemetery. It is set on the wall to the right of the classical-style entrance gate (as one looks from the outside). Above the plaque, set into the building architrave, is a Magen David from which hangs a metal memorial lamp.
The white marble plaque is twice as tall as it is wide. The bottom and sides are straight, but the top is shaped with an arch and two diagonal “shoulders.” On the surface of the plaque, two incised lines run continuously around the entire stone, creating a framing molding. Within the top part of the surface, the shaped profile of the top part is repeated and shallowly inscribed. Within this is carved in low relief a Magen David at the top, and below, a bronze menorah is set in higher relief, with its base set on a small projecting semi-circular ledge. Beneath these memorial features are inscriptions in Hebrew and Italian, followed by a list of names of victims, with an inscribed Hebrew date in the lower right-hand corner.
Inscriptions
Hebrew
איכה נקטף אבכם איכה נרעך נרכם
עיכי אך בוכיה כאשר יזכר אתכם
תתענג במרוטים נפשכם חלף צרקותיכם
וחלף יגון ואנחה אשר היו גורלכם
Translation: [translation needed]
Italian
TRIBUTO DI PIANTO E DI MESTO RICORDO
ALLE VENTIMOVE VITTIME INNOCENTI
TRUCIDATE NEI CAMPI DI STERMINO
I LORO SPIRITI CIRCONFUSI DI GLORIA
ADDITANO ALLE GENERAZIONI FUTURE
L’ELEVATEZZA DELLE SUBLIMI ASPIRAZIONI D’ISRAELE
GUERRA MONDIALE 1939-1945
[List of names of victims in two columns]
Translation; Tearful tribute and sad remembrance to the twenty-five innocent victims slaughtered in the extermination camps. Their spirits are surrounded by glory, they point to future generations the elevation of the sublime aspirations of Israel. / World War 1939-1945
Commissioned by
The Jewish Community of Saluzzo
4 image(s)
sub-set tree:
“The earliest cemetery was first documented in 1590, when the community was able to purchase land, the precise location of which is unknown. A second cemetery is documented in the Bramafarina region, on the modern-day strada di Pagno. A third one, still in use today, a short distance from the residential centre on via Lagnasco, was purchased by the Curia in 1795.
A plaque next to the entrance of the Jewish Cemetery commemorates the 29 Jews deported from Saluzzo; in the late 90s, their names were also engraved on individual plaques positioned between plants along the main avenue within the cemetery proper.”
“Jewish cemetery of Saluzzo,” Visit Jewish Italy , https://www.visitjewishitaly.it/en/listing/cemetery-of-saluzzo/ (accessed August 16, 2023)