70 years since liberation of Auschwitz

On the occasion of the International Holocaust Remembrance Day on Tuesday 27 January, numerous memorial events are being held in Rome until 15 February.

Established in 2005 by the United Nations to commemorate the day in 1945 that the survivors of Auschwitz concentration camp were liberated by the Russian army, the initiative honours the memory of the millions of Jews – but also homosexuals, Romany people and others – who suffered persecution, deportation, imprisonment and genocide.

Events taking place in Rome include a special programme of films, documentaries, interviews, lectures, readings and book presentations at the Casa della Memoria e della Storia, in Trastevere, until 30 January. There is also a Holocaust-themed play for children titled Brundibár at Teatro Palladium in Garbatella, and an exhibition La liberazione dei campi nazisti at the Vittoriano museum in Piazza Venezia.

Last October the mayor of Rome Ignazio Marino announced that construction of the city's Museo della Shoah, designed to commemorate Italy’s Jewish victims of the Holocaust, would begin "as soon as possible" at its planned site in Villa Torlonia.

For full information on Giorno della Memoria events in Rome see the city website.

See related article