Book presentation – event online on the occasion of the Giorno della Memoria 2022:
America. Nuova terra promessa
(Francesco Brioschi Editore 2013)
by Gianna Pontecorboli
Americordo. The Italian Jewish Exiles in America
(CPL Editions 2015)
The author in conversaton with prof. Vincenzo Pascale (Long Island University)
From January 27, 2022 available HERE
Pontecorboli’s book is a long overdue account of a lesser-known aspect of the Italian anti-Jewish persecution: the exile of Italian Jews to America. Forced to the US by the Fascist persecutions during the 1930’s and 1940’s, roughly two thousand Italian Jews landed in America and continued their work in a wide range of fields, from mathematics and biology to medicine, music, banking, textile manufacturing, art and antiques. Pontecorboli retraces the threads of their stories, their strategies to exit Italy, find a visa to the US and their first steps in the new world.