As part of the initiatives organized for the Day of Remembrance 2018 a ceremony in which the stumbling stone dedicated to Olga Blumenthal Secrétant was set by artist Gunter Demnig in front of the entrance of Ca’ Foscari University of Venice on Monday January 22nd to remember the lecturer who worked at Ca’ Foscari and was then deported to Ravensbrück in 1944 where she died on February 24th 1945.
A lectio magistralis held by the artist who has been traveling Europe to set his stumbling stones in memory of the victims of Nazism followed at the Auditorium Santa Margherita.
Michele Bugliesi, rector of Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, stressed how “important it is to keep alive these memories in the hope that it never happens again. What we are doing is essential for the young women and men who have no memory of what occured, to pass on this memory and maintain a strong sense of civilization. This project aims at thinking about memories in their many faces and stories to remember the many victims of this barbarism”.
Paola Mar, assessor of the municipality of Venice, also intervened with greetings from the City and highlighted how important it is for public institutions to remember the victims of Nazism with such shared initiatives.
Alessandro Casellato, Rector’s Delegate for the Day of Remembrance, emphasized that this event is part of a wider agenda and program including conferences, presentations and exhibitions such as the one currently in display at the Cultural Flow Zone.
Silvia Bettanin, young graduate in history who wrote her graduation thesis on the history of Ca’ Foscari during Fascism, shared Olga Blumenthal’s story (Venice, April 20th 1873 - Ravensbrück, February 24th 1945), assistant and then lecturer and professor at the R. Istituto Superiore di Scienze economiche e commerciali di Venezia that became Ca’ Foscari University of Venice from 1919 to 1938. With the promulgation of the racial laws in 1938, she was forced to retire and only taught in the Hebrew School prior to being arrested by German soldiers on October 30th 1944 and deported to the Nazi concentration camp of Ravensbrück where she died on February 24th 1945. She was remembered by the Rector Gino Luzzatto after the war with the other tragic victims of the war and the racial laws who were part of the university community.
Artist Gunter Demnig then shared the origin of his project in his career. 65 thousand “Stolperstein” are now visible in 21 European countries to honour the memory of the unburied victims of Nazism. “It is very different for a student to read about history in a book and to step on a stone that tells about people’s story and destiny”, said Demnig.
In 1992, after setting several political pieces in the public space, Demnig wanted to commemorate the deportation of gypsy citizens in Cologne, a piece of history forgotten by the very inhabitants of the city. The project progressively focused on individual human stories of victims of Nazism, involving the families of each Stolperstein’s victim.
Denmig concluded by saying that the unique aspect of his stones is how one has to bow to notice them and read the name and story of the victims, kneeling before them.
The initiative was promoted by: the German Center for Venetian Studies, the Municipality of Venice, the Jewish Community in Venice, the IVESER, the Ulss 3 Serenissima, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice with the support of the Council of Europe Office in Venice in collaboration with Insula.
Other initiatives for the Day of Remembrance 2018
Wednesday January 24th, 11am Liceo Benedetti-Tommaseo - Conference of Simon Levis Sullam (Ca' Foscari University of Venice) on Italians facing racial laws and Shoah (in Italian)
Wednesday March 7th, 3pm, Department of Humanities - Presentation of the book Mussolini contro gli ebrei. Cronaca dell'elaborazione delle leggi del 1938, Zamorani 2017, new edition. Ernesto De Cristofaro (Università di Catania) will discuss with author Michele Sarfatti
