Visit at the Association Ricordiamo Insieme

The Vicar of St. James, Fr. Piotr, visited the founders of the Association Ricordiamo Insieme: Friederike Pesch and Dr. Tobias Wallbrecher. The meeting was very interesting and may be the first step towards some common activities. Here is some information about this organization.

Who are the people of the Association Ricordiamo Insieme?

Friederike Pesch in Wallbrecher, a teacher and housewife, and Dr. Tobias Wallbrecher, a family physician and Catholic, are a German couple living in Rome since 1996. They hold Italian citizenship and originally come from Munich.

Sara Spizzichino, an artist, Rivka Spizzichino, a photographer, and Grazia Spizzichino, a master in communication, are three sisters from the Roman Jewish Community. They are grandnieces of Settimia Spizzichino, the only woman who survived the deportation of 1,022 Jewish Roman citizens, mostly women and children, to Auschwitz in October 1943 by the German Nazis.

Some initiatives of Ricordiamo Insieme:

Memory Event: Held at the provincialate of the Madri Pie Filippini, located at Via delle Fornaci 161, very close to St. Peter’s Square. This Catholic religious school order of nuns hid children in their house during the Nazi occupation of Rome. At these events, we invite testimonies, show documentaries, and host Jewish and Catholic speakers. We listen to music, reflect on art, and welcome our guests in a very personal manner, as if they were coming to our own home. We arrange everything beautifully, with flower arrangements and good kosher food (we only offer kosher, so everyone can eat everything). We aim to create a warm atmosphere, fostering a spirit of consolation and hope. This is also achieved through the music of three musicians who have accompanied our memory meetings over the years – a Jewish percussionist, a Christian guitarist, and several co-musicians who change every year.

St. Peter’s Square Meeting: A commemoration moment with songs, prayers, and reflections, bringing Jews and Christians together. From there, we walk to the ex Collegio Militare, Palazzo Salviati, now the Centre of National Military Studies. On October 16, 1943, more than a thousand Jewish victims were imprisoned and deported to Auschwitz from this location. Two days later, about 800 of them were immediately killed in the gas chambers. The aim of the memory march is to walk these 1,000 steps from St. Peter’s to Collegio Militare together, without judgment or criticism. We want to look at the open wound without fear, with clear eyes, and try to understand – Jews and Christians together, in full respect and humility of hearts.