Rome remembers the Holocaust

On the occasion of the 13th International Holocaust Remembrance Day on Sunday 27 January, numerous memorial events are being held in Rome, many of them aimed at school children.

Established in 2000 by the European parliament to commemorate the day in 1945 that the survivors of Auschwitz concentration camp were liberated by the Russian army, the initiative honours the memory of the millions of Jews that suffered persecution, deportation, imprisonment and genocide.

A programme of eye-witness accounts, film, theatre, art and readings takes place at the Casa della Memoria e della Storia in the Trastevere district, from 22-31 Jan.

The Sala S. Rita gallery near the Campidoglio stages the exhibition "Abbecedario della Memoria" by Rome painter Giancarlino, until 1 Feb. Also on show is a film about the celebrated resistance figure Claudio Pavone and writer Giacometta Limentani.

The Nuovo Cinema Aquila screens the film "In Darkness" by Agnieszka Holland, in Italian, on 27 and 28 Jan. Based on the book "In the Sewers of Lvov" by Robert Marshall, the film depicts the true story of Leopold Socha, a sewerage worker and petty thief in Lvov, in Nazi-occupied Poland. After he stumbles on a group of Jews in the sewers of the city, Socha agrees to hide them for a fee, before events take an unexpected and deadly turn.

For other Giorno della Memoria events in Rome and across Italy, see the culture ministry website.