INTERNATIONAL HOLOCAUST REMEMBRANCE DAY

The Italian Cultural Institute in Sydney, an official body of the Italian government, promotes Italian language and culture in Australia and New Zealand.Through language courses, cultural events, and a dedicated library, we offer a gateway to Italy’s rich heritage.We collaborate with local and international partners to present concerts, exhibitions, film screenings, and more, fostering cultural exchange and artistic dialogue.

Istituto Italiano di Cultura

Screening of documentary Il respiro di Shlomo (Shlomo’s Breath) - Italian with English subtitles

Istituto Italiano di Cultura Sydney

Thursday, 30 January, to mark International Holocaust Remembrance Day, the Italian Cultural Institute in Sydney will screen Il respiro di Shlomo (Shlomo’s Breath), a documentary produced by the Fondazione Museo della Shoah in collaboration with Rai Cinema. The film will be in Italian with English subtitles and it recounts the testimony of Shlomo Venezia (1923-2012), a deportee and member of the Sonderkommando at Auschwitz, as told nearly 30 years ago to Holocaust historian Marcello Pezzetti and director Ruggero Gabbai. His story is now preserved in the Memory Archive of the Contemporary Jewish Documentation Center (CDEC).Through Shlomo’s words, the documentary traces his tragic journey from his hometown of Thessaloniki, once one of the largest Jewish communities in the Mediterranean, to the horror of the Auschwitz, Birkenau, Ebensee, and Mauthausen camps, before his liberation and arrival in Italy, first in Udine and later in Rome.The film explores profound themes such as the loss of one’s community, the pain of separation from loved ones, and the struggle to survive in inhumane conditions. It also reveals how Shlomo, despite the passage of time, struggled to share his story—even with his own children, who only learned of his experiences in adulthood. This powerful documentary offers a moving reminder of the importance of memory and the need to bear witness to one of the darkest chapters of modern history.

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