A March of the Living was held in Rome on Monday, ten days after Hamas’s deadly attack on more than 1,000 Jews. The march was led by the President of the Republic of Italy Sergio Mattarella and the Mayor of Rome Roberto Gualtieri. Representatives of the Jewish community in Rome Victor Fadlun, Johanna Arbib, and Michel Gourary, marched together with Holocaust survivors and March of the Living’s Europe Director, and Revital Yakin Krakovsky, Deputy CEO of International March of the Living.
The march was escorted by heavy security to ensure the safety of the participants amidst growing threats against Jewish communities and institutions around the world.
October 16, 1943, marked the first deportation of the Jews from Rome. Approximately 1,000 Jews were sent to Auschwitz on that day.
7,680 Italian Jews perished in the Holocaust. Many Italian Jews were arrested and detained in camps within the country, and some were forced into slave labor.
Monday’s march began at the center of Rome and concluded at the Great Synagogue in the Jewish ghetto, where a commemoration ceremony was held.
