To celebrate Holocaust Memorial Day 2025 and the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz death camp, Sapienza organised, at the New Athenaeum Theatre, a reflection meeting based on the results of the third mission project entitled ‘Sapienza for Remembrance. The application of the racial laws at La Sapienza University’, launched in 2023 in collaboration with the Shoah Museum Foundation of Rome. The event was an opportunity to remember, through the dissemination of the results of the research and historical reconstruction activities, the lives of the men and women of the University of Rome who were victims of the application of the 1938 racial laws, of the anti-Jewish persecution and of the indifference of so many, as stated on the commemorative plaque that the University wished to place two years ago in the atrium of the Rector’s Hall.
Sapienza continues to work on a daily basis so that what happened is not forgotten. Universities,‘ said Rector Antonella Polimeni, “have a social and institutional duty to promote knowledge, including historical knowledge, of what happened because, to quote Primo Levi, ”if understanding is impossible, knowing is necessary’. For this reason, in addition to offering its own contribution as an educating institution through the training of students, Sapienza wishes to strengthen its cooperation with other institutions also through the implementation of shared activities open to the territory, aimed at promoting the value of memory and shared commitment for a society based on the constitutional principles of democracy, freedom and respect’.
The proceedings opened with greetings from the Rector Antonella Polimeni and the President of the Shoah Museum Foundation, Mario Venezia.
La Sapienza continua a lavorare quotidianamente affinché ciò che è accaduto non venga dimenticato. Le università“, ha dichiarato il Rettore Antonella Polimeni, ‘hanno il dovere sociale e istituzionale di promuovere la conoscenza, anche storica, di ciò che è accaduto perché, per dirla con Primo Levi, ’se comprendere è impossibile, conoscere è necessario”. Per questo, oltre a offrire il proprio contributo come istituzione educativa attraverso la formazione degli studenti, Sapienza vuole rafforzare la collaborazione con altre istituzioni anche attraverso la realizzazione di attività condivise e aperte al territorio, volte a promuovere il valore della memoria e l’impegno comune per una società fondata sui principi costituzionali di democrazia, libertà e rispetto”.
I lavori si sono aperti con i saluti del Rettore Antonella Polimeni e del Presidente della Fondazione Museo della Shoah, Mario Venezia.