A Dark Day in the History of Rome

Largo 16 Ottobre 1943

Plaque Marking the Deportation of More Than 1,000 Jews to Auschwitz

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In the shadow of the Tempio Maggiore di Roma (Grand Synagogue of Rome) lies Largo 16 Ottobre 1943, a small square whose name commemorates a dark moment in the history of the Eternal City,

At dawn, on the Saturday of October 16th 1943, 1,024  Jews, including 200 children, were rounded up in the square on the orders of the Nazis, who had occupied Rome the previous month. Two days later they were transported in the carriages of a freight train to Auschwitz. Only 16 people survived, 15 men and one woman.

Several plaques in Largo 16 Ottobre 1943 record this terrible event.   

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Two Plaques in Memory of the Mass Deportation of Jews