A Dark Day in the History of Rome

Largo 16 Ottobre 1943

Two plaques in Largo 16 Ottobre 1943 mark the deportation of more than one thousand Jews

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

At dawn on October 16th 1943, 1,024 Roman Jews, including 200 children, were rounded up in the piazza, on the orders of the Nazis, who had occupied the city the previous month. Two days later they were sent in a sealed 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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Plaque, Largo 16 Ottobre 1943