On the occasion of the Day of Remembrance, Friday 31 January at 6:00 pm in Pesaro, at the Bobbato Library, Laura Fontana presents her book Fotografare la Shoah. comprendere le immagini della spazzacaglieria degli ebrei. Daniele Susini, historian, will speak with the author.
An analysis, which was still missing, on the ways in which the Shoah was represented and interpreted through photographs. This volume is a polyphonic account of the Shoah and a reflection on how we understand historical images. For this reason, in the selection of photographs, the author has favored those that seemed most significant, original and pertinent to compose a narrative that unfolds like a score with many voices, adopting the method of the integrated approach; in this way, different perspectives are taken into consideration, that is, the points of view of the subjects of history, keeping roles, responsibilities and margins of action, destinies, separate. Some images in the book are very well known, already seen and reviewed, but perhaps not interpreted with sufficient exhaustiveness also due to a media overexposure that over time has accentuated their symbolic value to the detriment of the historical one; many others are almost unknown or unpublished in the Italian panorama, except for the circle of insiders. In this way the background of the shots is revealed regarding the photographed subjects, the photographers and every other person present on the scene, to better understand the relationships that exist between each one, the areas of action and responsibility. It is an important issue, especially if one considers that the history of the Shoah is narrated almost exclusively from the point of view of the Nazi persecutors, using their representations, to the detriment of sources that could enrich the story, subverting common interpretations resulting from a casual and superficial use of images in public dissemination.
Laura Fontana is a Shoah historian and teaching expert. A scientific consultant for the Mémorial de la Shoah in Paris, she has been involved for many years in teaching and training activities for Italian and European teachers. She is the author of numerous essays in Italian, English and French, also translated into Hebrew; she has edited the publication of collective volumes and special issues of academic journals. We remember: Gli Italiani ad Auschwitz (1943-1945) (Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum 2021).
The initiative is promoted by the Bobbato Library, ISCOP, the State Archives of Pesaro and Urbino and the Municipality of Pesaro
Participation in the initiative is recognized by a certificate valid for the purposes of in-service training for teachers.
The Ferruccio Parri National Institute (and the network of associated Institutes including ISCOP) is a body qualified by the MIUR for the training of school personnel - Directive no. 170/2016 (R.Q. no. 872 of 1.12.2016).
