Casentino leads transnational project "On Solomon's Trail" on Holocaust

Casentino leads transnational project "On Solomon's Trail" on Holocaust memory

The Unione dei Comuni Montani del Casentino is the lead partner of a transnational project that secured approximately €370,000 from the CERV (European Remembrance) programme to safeguard and promote the legacy of the Holocaust through research, outreach and participatory initiatives.

The initiative builds on the C.R.E.D.'s Memory Bank, an audiovisual and digital archive of more than 3,000 hours collecting oral histories, testimonies and local traditions. CRED's research brought to light the story of Solomon Saltiel, a Sephardic Jew from Thessaloniki whose life intersected with communities in the Casentino during World War II.

• Objectives: digitise and preserve testimonies; foster grassroots memory activities; connect local stories to European Holocaust remembrance frameworks; ensure inclusive access to memory for young people, educators and newcomers.
• Planned activities: creation of multimedia content, theatre productions, publications, school workshops, academic seminars, digital memory maps and film screenings.
• Partnership: a transnational consortium of 12 partners including public bodies, schools and universities from Italy, Greece and Germany.

Pier Angelo Bonazzoli, CRED coordinator, says the project combines rigorous research with creative methods to turn fragile archives into educational tools: young people will act as co‑creators of performances, digital stories and civic rituals.

Saltiel's personal story — internment in Italian prisoner camps and later deportation to Germany — serves as a micro‑history to link local memory with European efforts to counter denial and distortion of the Holocaust, consistent with the EU strategy to combat antisemitism.