Friday, February 01,

The Italian Lizzarrdi Family that Sheltered 5 Jewish Children vs Nazis Saluted on Holocaust Day

The ANNOTICO Report

 

I applaud the ceremony, but the "Never Again" rings rather hollow, when Genocide is CURRENTLY  Happening in 73 Countries, with 17 those in Category  7, the most gruesome degree of Genocide. 

 

Those 17are Dufar, Sudan; Uganda; Congo; Ethiopia; Columbia; Nepal; North Korea ; Afghanistan; Burma (Myanmar); Sri Lanka, Indonesia; Kashmir; China; Philippines; Uzbekistan; Chechnya; Iraq. 

 

The World Times News Report: http://news.wtnrradio.com/story.php?story=13

 

Now why do so many people Commemorate a past Genocide, vowing "Never Again", when under their very noses there are  SEVENTEEN GENOCIDES of the HIGHEST Degree now taking place, Not to mention the dozens more at the 5th & 6th stages???????

 

Why would they not instead of "Photo op" Commemorations and building more and more Museums that teach Tolerance, Actually do SOMETHING?????????

 

I find their efforts "blind" at least, and bizarre at most?????     I'm I the only one that sees the Hypocrisy of this stance???? 

 

Italians and Jews Mark Sombre Anniversary

The Suburban,

Quebec, Canada

By Remo Zaccagna

January 30, 2008

 

Jeannette Katz has had a lifelong affection for the Italian people, and for good reason  she credits them with saving her life 65 years ago.

In a Paris suburb in 1943, the Lizzardi family, Italian communists who fled Benito Mussolinis Fascist regime in Italy, sheltered a then 12-year-old Katz and four other Jewish children from Frances Nazi occupiers.

For more than four months, the children hid in the basement during the night while their hosts worked construction and factory jobs in order to earn enough money to support everyone.

They worked during the night to be able to take care of five Jewish children. It wasnt easy and they never made us feel any different from their own son," Katz, 77, said.

Katz told her story at downtowns Italian Cultural Institute on Sunday evening before an overflowing audience that came to mark Interna tional Holocaust Day, as well as the 70th anniversary of Italys passing of anti-Semitic racial laws.

I wanted to come here to tell my story because people should know what Italians did for us and to say that they hold a very special place in my heart."

The evenings proceedings began when a four-member panel, which included professors Lucienne Kroha (McGill University), Francois Cripeau (Universiti de Montrial) and Eric Volant (UQAM), presided over an hour-long question and answer period that stemmed from their observations of the book LItalie Fasciste et la Persicution des Juifs.

A special screening of Paul Lees 45-minute documentary Bookmark: Primo Levi  followed the discussion.

The audience included young and old, Italian and Jewish, and spilled out of the room.

I think that g enocide has been such an important event in recent history, that it is important for everybody to be aware of that," said Francesco Paolo Venier, the Consul General of Italy, who helped organize the event with the Cultural Institute.

Im glad that youth came to this occasion because they have to remember even more," he added. "The important thing is not to be in a situation where you have your eyes closed again. These things happen because our eyes are closed and this is what we have to avoid happening again."

Peter Subissati, public affairs officer for the Israeli Consulate, agreed with Venier.

Its a good show of solidarity between communities, very important communities, the Italian community and the Jewish community, and its nice to have a show of support," he said. "Sadly, its for a tragic period in history, but nonetheless its nice to see that several generations after the Holocaust that we have a nice assembly of two peoples coming together to, first of all to commemorate the tragic part of the history of Italy and of Europe, but to say enough and that we will not repeat these things in the future."

Subissati said he wasnt surprised with the evenings turnout, given that, for the most part, Italians have been accepting of the Jewish community in Italy, now hovering around 38,000 people.

Like the panel said earlier, Jews were at the vanguard of the Italian nationalist movement; they were emancipated at the same time as this nationalism was growing. And after the war, very few Italian Jews moved to Israel, very few moved elsewhere, they were very intertwined with the Italian community."

 

http://thesuburban.com/content.jsp?sid=20491116528012780001161376482&ctid=1000000&cnid=1014180 

 

 

The ANNOTICO Reports Can be Viewed (and are Archived) on:

Italia USA: http://www.ItaliaUSA.com [Formerly Italy at St Louis] (7 years)

Italia Mia: http://www.ItaliaMia.com (3 years)

Annotico Email: annotico@earthlink.net