Skirmishes on Lake Ladoga

Description

“Every morning in the kitchen I used to read—and comment upon—war bulletins for my grandmother. When everything was quiet, it said that there had been ‘skirmishes on Lake Ladoga.’ The word ‘skirmish’ and the name of that far distant lake must have made a particular impression upon me. I can still see myself sitting there at our wooden kitchen table as I read them out of the newspaper.”

Against the backdrop of war-torn Italy, Bassi recounts one of many stories of daily terror, uncertainty and loss endured by those who survived the systematic attempt to eradicate European Jewry. Both deeply personal and finely nuanced, Bassi’s story is emblematic of those whose lives were forever shattered by the Nazi-Fascist persecution and who felt compelled to bear witness.

About the Author

Roberto Bassi (b. 1931, Venice) is a dermatologist and former Chief Consultant at the Venice City Hospital. He is the author of Psiche e pelle (Bollati Boringhieri, 2006), a book on psychosomatic dermatology written for a general audience. A longtime leader in Italy’s Jewish community, he was the founding director of the Centro di Documentazione Ebraica Contemporanea (CDEC), President of the Jewish Community of Venice, and Vice President of the Union of Italian Jewish Communities.