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Rome remembers 80th anniversary of Nazis’ expulsion of the city’s Jews 

October 17, 2023 Catholic News Agency 0
The ancient Portico d’Ottavia in the heart of Rome’s Jewish ghetto was the site of the March for Remembrance on Oct. 16, 2023. / Credit: Camelia.boban|Wikimedia|CC BY-SA 4.0

Rome, Italy, Oct 17, 2023 / 12:37 pm (CNA).

Hundreds of people took to the streets of Rome on Monday evening to mark the 80th anniversary of the Nazi roundup and deportation of more than 1,200 Jews from Rome to the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp. 

The March of Remembrance commenced at the Piazza del Campidoglio, home to Rome’s city hall, and concluded in front of the ancient Portico d’Ottavia in the heart of the Jewish ghetto. This annual event has been held for the past 30 years and is jointly organized by the Catholic community of Sant’Egidio and the Jewish Community of Rome. 

Established in 1555, the Jewish ghetto of Rome is one of the oldest in Europe. It is located in the city center, bordered by the Tiber River and the Trastevere neighborhood on the south and Piazza Venezia on the north. 

On Sept. 10, 1943, two days after Italy’s surrender, the German Wehrmacht occupied Rome. The city remained under Nazi control until its liberation by Allied forces a year later, on June 4, 1944. 

On Oct. 16, 1943, the Gestapo raided the ghetto, rounding up 1,022 Jews who were subsequently deported to the Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland. 

“Two hundred were children. Sixteen of them returned, only one woman among them,” Rome’s chief rabbi, Riccardo Di Segni, told the crowd at the event’s concluding ceremony.

Among the speakers on the stage were the president of Italy, Sergio Mattarella; the mayor of Rome, Roberto Gualtieri; Di Segni; Victor Fadlun, president of the Jewish Community of Rome organization; Andrea Riccardi, founder of the Community of Sant’Egidio; representatives of the Italian Parliament; and members of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s cabinet. 

Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, president of the Italian Bishops’ Conference; Bishop Vincenzo Paglia, president of the Pontifical Academy for Life; and Ambrogio Spreafico, bishop of Anagni-Alatri, were also present. 

This was an opportunity to remember “one of the most shocking and inhuman events that our city experienced in the 20th century,” Gualtieri said in his remarks. 

“It is necessary to always recognize and fight the virus of anti-Semitism when it appears in its multiple metamorphoses,” he continued. “This is also why it is important to be here today.” 

The mayor also took a moment to honor two survivors of the Holocaust, Tatiana Bucci and Sami Modiano, 85 and 92 years old, respectively, who were present at the event.

“The novelty of the Shoah [the Holocaust] was that of the systematic and technological organization of the extermination,” Di Segni told the crowd assembled in front of the Portico d’Ottavia. “But the massacres of the Jews had infamous precedents throughout the world,” he continued. 

“After the Shoah, we had the illusion that the world had changed. But no,” he said.

At the end of his speech, Di Segni took a moment to comment on Hamas’ unprecedented attack on Israel on Oct. 7. 

“What happened nine days ago in Israel … reopened the bleeding wounds of events that occurred in this square and spread a sense of insecurity throughout the world. I am not going to insist on the essential message, which should also be clear, that the attack on the Jews as such because that is what it was, is an attack on the foundations of civil society and social peace.” 

Riccardi of Sant’Egidio, an organization known for its far-reaching humanitarian work, made the event’s closing remarks.

“War and violence and terrorism are being reevaluated,” Riccardi declared. 

“And so, dear friends, in this climate between the memory of ’43 and the horror of the massacres and kidnappings of the innocent caused by the barbaric attack of Hamas on the whole of Israel, sharing the anxiety for the future of our friends, we rally around the Jewish community with great effect and with faithfulness,” he said.

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Armenian leaders in Nagorno-Karabakh arrested by Azerbaijan

October 10, 2023 Catholic News Agency 1
A general view of the city of Stepanakert, known as Khankendi in Azerbaijani, in Azerbaijan’s controlled region of Nagorno-Karabakh on Oct. 5, 2023. / Credit: STRINGER/AFP via Getty Images

CNA Staff, Oct 10, 2023 / 11:30 am (CNA).

Several key ethnic Armenian leaders in Nagorno-Karabakh were arrested over the past week following a violent takeover by Azerbaijan.

Arayik Harutyunyan, recent president of the now defunct ethnic Armenian Republic of Artsakh, also known as Nagorno-Karabakh, was among those arrested by the Azeri military on Oct. 3. He has been imprisoned in the Azeri capital city of Baku and is currently being tried for his role in leading the separatist government and participating in military campaigns against Azerbaijan, according to the Azeri State Security Service.

The Azeri Times, a pro-Azeri government news source, reported that Harutyunyan is also being charged with “directing missile strikes” in 2020 “that led to the death of 100 Azerbaijani civilians and injured 416 others.”

Other key Armenian leaders who have been arrested by the Azeri military include Ruben Vardanyan, Bako Sahakyan, and Arkadi Ghukasyan, all former presidents of Artsakh.

All are being similarly charged with crimes related to “terrorism” and war crimes, according to the Azeri State Security Service.

Since their arrests, the Azeri Times has revealed pictures of the captured leaders and claimed that they are being treated humanely and have been able to make phone calls to relatives. Currently, their fates are unclear as Azeri authorities have not said what potential punishments they face.

These arrests follow a short but intense Azeri military offensive that put an end to ethnic Armenians’ self-sovereignty in Nagorno-Karabakh.

Until two weeks ago, the region was majority Armenian and Christian despite existing within the borders of Azerbaijan, a majority Muslim nation.

Claimed by both Armenia and Azerbaijan since 1991, the Azeri government seized Artsakh during the 2020 “Second Nagorno-Karabakh War.”

Though internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, ethnic Armenians in Artsakh continued to claim self-sovereignty until an Azeri attack on Sept. 19.

Following the attack, the Azeri government promised “full protection of the rights and freedoms of persons of Armenian nationality.” However, the vast majority of the Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh have now fled for Armenia proper. 

According to several human rights advocates, the Armenian Christians of Nagorno-Karabakh fear cultural, religious, and ethnic persecution by the government of Azerbaijan.

According to the Armenian government, 100,632 ethnic Armenians — that is, more than 80% of the total 120,000 Nagorno-Karabakh population — have fled since the Azeri takeover.

Some experts fear that Azerbaijan, emboldened by its victory in Nagorno-Karabakh and backed by its ally Turkey, is planning to invade Armenia proper. 

“Let us be realistic,” Siobhan Nash-Marshall, a U.S.-based human rights advocate, told CNA last week. “Azerbaijan already has grabbed a part of the region … They are also firing on border villages and have been for a year. What, then, is the threat to Armenia? Invasion.”

France promises military aid to Armenia

On Oct. 3, French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna announced France’s intention to send military equipment to Armenia. The announcement demonstrates an ongoing political shift by Armenia away from Russia and toward the West. 

Since Russian peacekeeping forces stationed by Nagorno-Karabakh failed to stop the Sept. 19 attack, Armenia has begun to back away from Russian influence. 

Armenia’s Parliament voted last week to join the International Criminal Court (ICC), which has an active arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin. This indicates that if Putin were to set foot in Armenia, authorities would be obliged to arrest him.

Nikol Pashinyan, Armenia’s prime minister, reportedly canceled his plans to attend an Oct. 10 summit in Kyrgyzstan at which Putin was also scheduled to attend.

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