Pisa hosts event to mark 88th anniversary of Italian racial laws

The Domus Mazziniana in Pisa will host a public event titled ‘Il dovere della memoria’ (The Duty of Memory) on September 4, 2026. Organized in collaboration with the Pisa provincial committee of the Fondazione Insigniti dell’Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana (FOMRI), the meeting commemorates the 88th anniversary of the racial laws.

These laws, signed by Vittorio Emanuele III on September 5, 1938, at the San Rossore royal estate in Pisa, introduced systematic discrimination against Italian citizens of Jewish origin and faith. The legislation had an immediate impact on education; in Pisa alone, the university suspended twenty professors and expelled over two hundred foreign students.

The commemorative program will utilize theater, music, and historical testimonies. It includes a video monologue titled ‘Numeri’ regarding a Jewish university student during the persecutions, musical performances of Olivier Messiaen’s ‘Quatuor pour la fin du temps’, and readings from historical witnesses such as Primo Levi and Giorgio Bassani.