Fondazione Centro di Documentazione Ebraica Contemporanea (Fondazione CDEC), an independent research institute for the promotion and study of the culture and of Jews in Italy, with particular reference to the contemporary age and the Nazi-fascist period, started in 2020, thanks to the support of Bolton Hope Foundation, the multi-year research project “Jewish Resisters of Italy”, which delves into the theme of Jews the Resistance and their contribution to the construction of democratic Italy.
Starting from mostly unknown events, the research project intends to reconstruct the role of Jews in Italy during the Second World War, not only victims but also protagonists of the resistance to Fascism and Nazism.
The research project develops in some territories of central Italy and specifically in the regions of Campania, Lazio and Tuscany and aims to expand to other Italian regions subject to German occupation and the Italian Social Republic during the two-year period 1943-1945.
An online portal will allow to consult a database with over 240 profiles including personal data and biographical stories of Jews who have chosen to join the partisan fight with all the relevant reference sources. Furthermore, through the digital exhibition “Living as Resistant” it will be possible to delve deeper into ten biographies of men and women whose stories have been identified as paradigmatic for courage and spirit of rebellion with original photographs, documents and podcasts.