Monthly Archives: July 2024

A sobering moment near Naples – Italy and the Holocaust

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This is now my second blog inspired by my recent 18-day vacation to Italy, Greece, Malta and Spain. Twelve days of the trip included a cruise, and since I had toured the Naples area extensively in the past, I selected a shore excursion to the lesser known area west of Naples, the Campi Flegrei region. It was a beautiful landscape created by volcanic activity over the past several centuries.

One stop included the rural hunting grounds and summer home of the past kings of Naples that has now been turned into the park. Though there were several buildings to see including a charming mini-palace in the lake, our guide made it a point to stop at what he felt was one of the most important places in the park.

It was an old train car with no windows and a plaque remembering the Jews gathered up in Italy as the same time of the Nazi holocaust in Germany. When fascist dictator Benito Mussolini establish the Jewish segregation law in 1938, Italian Jews lost their civil rights including those to property, education and employment. They were removed from government jobs, the armed forces, and public schools (both as teachers and students.) Many Jews left Italy at this time, but a great number of those who remained were rounded up to be killed in 1943. Train cars like the one in the photo transported Jews to the one Italian concentration camp in northern Italy, and when that one could not handle all the people, many were sent to camps in Germany.

The Campi Flegrei region near Naples


Our guide shared and I confirmed it with online research that, in general, the fate and persecution of Jews in Italy between 1938 and 1943 has received only very limited attention in the Italian media (Vitello, Paul (4 November 2010). “Scholars Reconsidering Italy’s Treatment of Jews in the Nazi Era”) Our guide said he felt it is very important for people to understand racism and genocide in the past so that we as humans avoid these mistakes in the future. He did lament Italy’s current turn to the far right with the latest election, (which had one of the lowest turnout) of fascist prime minister Giorgia Meloni. This underscores the importance of voting.

Thank you for reading about this sobering moment from my vacation and the importance or remembering some of the darkest days of human history.

Galileo, Forbidden Books and Modern Politics

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A view over beautiful Florence, Italy

In my July newsletter I mentioned that after writing 2-4 blogs per month for years without a break, I had not written for well over a month.  That also included an 18-day vacation traveling through Italy, Greece, Malta and Spain.  My trip experience did now provide inspiration for a few blogs, including this first one, “Galileo, Forbidden Books and Modern Politics.”

Spending a day in Florence was inspiring, and aided by a wonderful book, “Florence – a Traveler’s Guide to Gems & Giants” by Patty Civalleri.  Not only did the book provide information on all the city’s sites, but also included mini-biographies of the many fabulous people who heralded from Florence.

One was the highly renowned scientist Galileo Galilei, most often simply referred to as Galileo.  He was one of the leading scientists believing in heliocentrism, that all our solar system planets revolved around the sun instead of the accepted belief that everything revolved around our earth. His “far-fetched” ideas brought him under the scrutiny of the Roman Catholic tribunal, that tried him and required him to confess his sins.  In addition, his books were placed on the “List of Forbidden Books.”

Ponte Vechhio, built in 1345, the most photographed bridge in the world.

That was almost 500 years ago, and now what is happening today in American politics?  The same thing!  Self-appointed keepers of morality much like the church tribunals of 500 years ago are determining what books are evil and should be kept away from schools and libraries.  Certain factions are deciding on behalf of all people that our society needs to be protected from books about our nation’s history of racism or discussing various aspects of sexuality.

Two years ago, I published a blog reviewing some of the recently banned books by school districts, “These Banned Books Are Delightful” and a follow on, “Another delightful and insightful banned book – Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe.” Several years ago, one of the best teachers in Orange County, North Carolina was run out of town since he dared to read a book about a prince marrying another prince to his class.  (Read my blog about this.)

Galileo died a sad and lonely death at his home in Florence, and the city of Florence has always regretted the bad treatment of Galileo and has made efforts to keep his memory alive.  So is history now repeating itself here in the USA?  I do hope that in the future, our nation regrets letting small minds dictate what our population may and may not read.