Italian Jewish Communities Seek Action to Check Anti-semitism, Assimilation

The sixth quinquennial Congress of the Union of Italian Jewish Communities closed today with adoption of a series of resolutions aimed at counteracting a resurgence of fascist and anti-Semitic activities in Italy and stressing the need for more effective action to avoid the threat of assimilation among Italian Jewry.

One of the resolutions emphasized the “inadequate application of the 1952 law for the repression of fascist activities” and invited Italian authorities to undertake “a more scrupulous application of existing laws” in line with pledges to the Union “to take steps for repression of racist and anti-Semitic propaganda and racial and religious discrimination.” The resolution urged that such action be undertaken either by amendments to the Italian penal code or by enactment of special legislation.

In another resolution, the delegates expressed their determination “to take firm steps with the Education Ministry to obtain the use in schools of textbooks highlighting the meaning of nazism and fascism.” The resolution asserted that most of the textbooks now in use either failed to mentinn the Nazi-Fascist era or “alter the truth concerning Nazi-Fascist persecutions.”

The delegates addressed a “brotherly greeting” to Israel and declared that the creation and growth of Israel was “the leading event of the twentieth century,” and pledged the support of Italian Jewry for all efforts aimed at promoting peace between Israel and its Arab neighbors.

Paying homage to the millions of victims of the Nazi era, the delegates in another resolution dealing with the trial of Adolf Eichmann, “one of those chiefly responsible,” asserted that Israel had an “incontestable right to judge the slaughterers of the Jewish people.” The delegates expressed the “certainty that Israel justice” in the Eichmann trial was “guided not by a spirit of revenge but by a deep urge for justice and a desire to save further generations from the false ideologies and the horrors deriving from racial hatred and propaganda.”

The 42 delegates from 23 communities emphasized the basic contribution to Italian Jewish needs by the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany and expressing gratitude to the Joint Distribution Committee. They also congratulated the World Jewish Congress for “results achieved in the defense of Jewish interests throughout the world” and expressed the hope that all Jewish communities would become affiliated with the World Jewish Congress which “stresses the unity of the Jewish people.”

Messages of greetings and support were received from Premier Amintore Fanfani, most Italian Cabinet members, Church officials, Dr. Nahum Goldmann, Edward M. M. Warburg, and leaders of Jewish communities in Algeria, Sweden, Brazil, Uruguay, Yugoslavia, Britain, Australia, Canada, Chile and Poland.