The Italian Jewish Cultural Center of Calabria (IjCCC) is an international organization based in Calabria, the southernmost region of Italy. Founded by Rabbi Barbara Aiello, whose Jewish ancestry includes B'nai Anusim (Italians whose ancestors were forced into adult baptism and Christian conversion during Inquisition times), is the founding director of the IjCCC, an organization dedicated to help those with Italian heritage determine if their family surnames indicate Italian Jewish roots.  Although the IjCCC does not establish a blood line, our staff initiates a search of Italian family surnames to determine a Jewish connection. Staff combs through ancient Inquisition records, searching for matches between family surnames and Jewish religious persecution.

 

 

 

 

ITALIAN JEWS AND WORLD WAR II: THE AMAZING STORY OF HOW SOUTHERN ITALIANS HELPED JEWS DURING THE HOLOCAUST 

 

As the Nazi Holocaust took the lives of six million Jews across Europe, a different story played out in Italy. According to most estimates, around 80% of Italy's Jews survived the war. What accounts for the Jewish survival rate in Fascist Italy?

 

In her lecture, Rabbi Barbara Aiello discusses the experience of Italian Jews during World War II, focusing on the southern region of Calabria, where she serves as Rabbi of Congregation Ner Tamid del Sud. Calabria was home to Italy's largest concentration camp, Ferramonti, where 4,000 Jews were interned. Extraordinarily, only four Jews perished in Ferramonti, killed in an Allied bombing raid. Rabbi Barbara will share stories of the Calabrian villagers and other Italians who protected their Jewish neighbors at great personal risk.

   

 

 

Admission 

Light refreshments will be served on both days. Kosher dietary laws will be observed for the Sunday program.

Rabbi Barbara Aiello, the first woman rabbi in Italy, begins her 14th year as Italy's only modern, liberal rabbi. She continues to serve Jews throughout Europe as a spokesperson for Pluralistic Judaism, a movement that deliberately blurs denominational lines and extends the hand of Jewish welcome to Jews of all backgrounds.

Rabbi Barbara Aiello was born in Pittsburgh, Pa. and is the daughter of a liberator of the Buchenwald concentration camp. She is a graduate of Indiana University of Pennsylvania where she received the Distinguished Alumni Award. She holds a MS from The George Washington University in Washington, DC, and received "smeicha" (rabbinic ordination) from The Rabbinical Seminary International and the Rabbinical Academy in New York City. Learn more about Rabbi Barbara at  her website.  

 

Italian American Program

Rauh Jewish History Program & Archives

Roots in the Boot Italian Genealogy Group

The University of Pittsburgh Jewish Studies Program, with support from the Giant Eagle Foundation Endowment for Community Outreach

University of Pittsburgh, Department of French & Italian

Classrooms without Borders

   

 

 

For more information, please contact Melissa E. Marinaro, director, Italian American Program at 412-454-6426 or memarinaro@heinzhistorycenter.org .