Ferrara, first 15 stumbling stones dedicated to Ferrarese Jewish victims of the Holocaust laid

A ceremony was held in Ferrara this morning to lay the first fifteen stumbling stones dedicated to Jews from Ferrara who were victims of the Shoah. The Fink - Bassani - Lampronti family who once lived at 88 Via Mazzini, the members of the Forti - Jesi - Lampronti family, who lived a little further down the street at number 85, those of the Rietti - Cavalieri family at number 14, return today to their Ferrara home, in front of the houses where they lived before being deported during the Holocaust. The Stolpersteine, or “stumbling stones,” are small concrete cubes with a brass plate made by artist Gunter Demnig that bear the biographical details of Nazi camp victims. Placed in front of the last known residence of the deportees, they invite reflection on historical memory. Since 1995 there have been more than 100,000 of them in 2,000 European cities. Now also in Ferrara.

These first fifteen stumbling stones are the first of a large project that will continue in the future with more stones. And more will follow, to tell as much of Ferrara’s history as possible through collective memory.

“I thank President Fortunato Arbib and all the Jewish Community, the other partners in the project for helping us, as a municipality, to realize what has been there in many Italian and European cities for a long time,” said Mayor Alan Fabbri during this morning’s ceremony. “It is an important gesture to remember, not to forget, which starts from the heart of our city, its Jewish ghetto, and which involves citizens, institutions and above all the new generations, so that a tragedy that hit Ferrara hard as well may never happen again.”

Mayor Fabbri read the names of the people to whom the first 15 stumbling stones are dedicated: Isacco Fink, Carlo Bassani, Giuseppe Bassani, Rina Lampronti in Bassani and Marcella Bassani - whose stumbling stones have been placed at 85 Via Mazzini - Leone Forti, Carolina Jesi in Forti, Berta Forti in Lampronti, Umberto Lampronti and Carlo Lampronti - members of the family torn from 85 Via Mazzini - Nello Rietti, Giulia Rietti, Leonella Rietti, Gastone Rietti and Argia Cavalieri in Rietti, from the family at 14 Via Mazzini.

“The Jewish community of Ferrara has represented this city for centuries, contributing to its growth from so many points of view: cultural, social, economic. The families of the victims we are honoring today have given us the opportunity to place these stones: thanks to them we will forever remember the names and tragic history of these citizens of Ferrara, torn from their lives and from these homes, where they never returned,” the mayor added. “In addition to the 15 placed today, 25 more have been requested by families and acquaintances, and each stumbling stone that will be added will have its own ceremony.”

“Thanks to a choral work,” explained Alan Fabbri, “the stories of other Ferrara Jewish victims of the Shoah are being sought: the project, therefore, will continue, creating a widespread, open-air museum throughout the city.”

“We strongly believed in this initiative, which is part of a much larger project on the enhancement of the Jewish Ghetto of Ferrara,” said Jewish Community President Fortunato Arbib. “Today is an important moment for the Jewish Community, for Ferrara, for the people of Ferrara. These stones are the first of a long list. They bring to light something essential: stones that do not impose themselves, but that one stumbles upon casually. Once laid, they become an integral part of the city: an urban map integrated into the urban fabric, where past and present come together, where public and private memories intertwine. Crossing the streets of the ghetto, it will come naturally to wonder what they are.”

Also important is the involvement of schools: the stumbling stone project will continue with the taking over of the stones by Ferrara students, who will be responsible for preserving these works and celebrating their memory. It is planned that the opening of a website dedicated to the stories of these Ferrara Jewish families.

Present at the ceremony, in addition to institutional representatives and local and regional politicians, were citizens and partners in the project, which was organized by the Municipality of Ferrara, the Jewish Community of Ferrara, the National Museum of Italian Judaism and the Shoah, the Institute of Contemporary History, the University of Ferrara, the State Archives of Ferrara and the “Girolamo Frescobaldi” Conservatory of Music of Ferrara.

Ferrara, first 15 stumbling stones dedicated to Ferrarese Jewish victims of the Holocaust laid

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