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May 16 - May 22
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  • 16
    05/16/2021
    No events
  • 17
    05/17/2021
    No events
  • 18
    05/18/2021

    Movie and Snack • Special Holocaust Series: “If you are not indifferent, things can be different.”

    7:00 PM-9:00 PM
    05/18/2021
    The Italian Cultural Foundation at Casa Belvedere
    79 Howard Avenue

    Special Holocaust Series: “If you are not indifferent, things can be different.”
    Part 3: Movie screening and discussion

    The movie-documentary will be followed by discussion led by author Elizabeth Bettina and Vincent Marmorale, president of Italy and the Holocaust Foundation.

    Would you risk your life to save a stranger and never talk about it? My Italian Secret tells the story of cycling idol Gino Bartali, Dr. Giovanni Borromeo, Monsignor Schivo, Mercedes Virgili, the Virgili family and other courageous Italians who carried out ingenious schemes to rescue Jews, partisans and refugees from Nazi-occupied Italy.

    Celebrated as a Tour de France champion, Gino Bartali’s most daring triumph came when he risked his life to save Italian Jews by smuggling fake identification documents in the frame of his bicycle. Dr. Borromeo invented a fictitious disease to scare the SS away from the hospitals where he was hiding Jews. Monsignor Schivo hid a mother and daughter in a convent, dressed as nuns. The Virgili family and the entire town of Secchiano (Rimini) maintained the secret of a German family hidden in plain sight. These people reflect the efforts of thousands of Italians who risked their lives to save others.

    You will see Italian run concentration camps and how they differ from those administered by the Nazi’s.  A camp located Campagna (Salerno) housed Jews in a former convent. The Jews had a synagogue and were able to practice their religion. In Ferramonti di Tarsia (Calabria) children are in school. As an entire continent was engulfed in genocide, more than 80 percent of Italy’s Jews survived. The film is narrated by Isabella Rossellini, with Robert Loggia as the voice of Gino Bartali.

    If you missed Parts 1 and 2 of the “If you are not indifferent, things can be different” four-part series, watch it on demand via Casa Belvedere’s website:

    Click here for Part One: “It Happened in Italy – Untold Stories of How the People of Italy Defied the Horrors of the Holocaust” presented by author Elizabeth Bettina.

    Click here for Part Two: Primo Levi, a Holocaust survivor committed to keep alive the narrative of the Holocaust, lest we forget. Presented by Prof. Francesco Bonavita.

    Part 4: Meet the survivors and their families in June :date TBD

    Doors open at 7:30 for check in. Reservations with pre-payment required.

    Presented in partnership with:

  • 19
    05/19/2021
    No events
  • 20
    05/20/2021
    No events
  • 21
    05/21/2021
    No events
  • 22
    05/22/2021

    Virtual Writing Workshop

    10:00 AM-11:30 AM
    05/22/2021
    The Italian Cultural Foundation at Casa Belvedere
    79 Howard Avenue

    “Writing the Italian in Your Memories”: Spring Edition
    Laboratorio Virtuale di Scrittura, Virtual Writing Workshop
    May 22, June 5, June 19
    10:00-11:45am
    No experience necessary, just a notebook and pen!

    As Italians and Italian-Americans (IA), when we look back on our pasts, whether a year or decades ago, our stories are often intertwined with our culture—its richness, expectations, challenges and humor. During each workshop, led by author Maria Giura, we’ll focus on how one aspect of IA life–family, work, and (un)belief—forms the background or foreground of our memories.

    We’ll read short, vibrant excerpts written by IA authors and explore how they tell their stories. Participants will then be given prompts to generate their own writing. By the end of each workshop, participants will have produced an original piece of writing. No experience necessary, just a notebook, pen, and a sense of curiosity and fun!

    Register for one, two, or all three workshops. Pour your coffee and join Maria on Saturday mornings from 10 to 11:45 am. The fee for each workshop is …There is a member discount for family members.
    Part 1: Saturday, May 22
    Part 2: Saturday, June 5
    Part 3: Saturday, June 19

    About the Instructor:

    Maria Giura is the author of Celibate: A Memoir (Apprentice House) and What My Father Taught Me (Bordighera Press). Her writing has appeared in Prime Number, Presence, (Voices in) Italian Americana, Lips, Tiferet, and Paterson Literary Review. She has won awards from the Academy of American Poets, the Independent Press, and the Center for Women Writers, and was a judge for the Lauria/ Frasca Poetry Award. She has taught at St. John’s University, Montclair State, and Binghamton University where she earned her PhD in English. https://www.mariagiura.com/