Centro di Documentazione Ebraica Contemporanea
Encyclopedia
The Centro di Documentazione Ebraica Contemporanea (Center of Contemporary Jewish Documentation; CDEC) is an independent cultural and historical institution in Milan
, Italy
, dedicated to promoting the study of the events, culture, and circumstances of the Jewish People in Italy in the context of modern times
.
The CDEC was founded in 1955 at the initiative of the Italian Jewish Youth Federation (Federazione Giovanile Ebraica Italiana). Its stated objective: the research and documentation of all forms of anti-semitic persecution in Italy, and the Jews' contribution to the Resistance in Italy. (per the CDEC charter, 1957)
Since 1986, the Center operates as a not-for-profit Foundation, under the name La Fondazione Centro di Documentazione Ebraica Contemporanea — CDEC.
Michele Sarfatti has served as the Foundation's director since 2002.
, is due to be translated into English
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Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, dedicated to promoting the study of the events, culture, and circumstances of the Jewish People in Italy in the context of modern times
Contemporary history
Contemporary history describes the period timeframe that is without any intervening time closely connected to the present and is a certain perspective of modern history. The term "contemporary history" has been in use at least by the early 19th century. In the widest context of this use,...
.
The CDEC was founded in 1955 at the initiative of the Italian Jewish Youth Federation (Federazione Giovanile Ebraica Italiana). Its stated objective: the research and documentation of all forms of anti-semitic persecution in Italy, and the Jews' contribution to the Resistance in Italy. (per the CDEC charter, 1957)
Since 1986, the Center operates as a not-for-profit Foundation, under the name La Fondazione Centro di Documentazione Ebraica Contemporanea — CDEC.
Michele Sarfatti has served as the Foundation's director since 2002.
Departments
The Center functions as a study and research facility. It curates exhibitions and organizes encounters between students and docents. Its operations are divided between the following departments:- Library
- Media center
- Historical archive
- Archive of Prejudice
- Teaching the Holocaust
Digital exhibition
In late 2006, the CDEC inaugurated its website offering a digital exhibition of its holdings. Three hundred items, comprising photographs, letters, journals, memoirs, and official documents, tell the story of Jewish life in Italy from the mid-19th century to the years of persecution at the start of the Second World War, through the Holocaust, and into the postwar period. The site, presently in ItalianItalian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
, is due to be translated into English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
.
Righteous Among the Nations
The CDEC Foundation represents Italy in the recognition of the "Righteous Among the NationsRighteous Among the Nations
Righteous among the Nations of the world's nations"), also translated as Righteous Gentiles is an honorific used by the State of Israel to describe non-Jews who risked their lives during the Holocaust to save Jews from extermination by the Nazis....
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Collaborations with other institutions
The CDEC operates in collaboration with Holocaust documentation institutions worldwide, including:- Yad VashemYad VashemYad Vashem is Israel's official memorial to the Jewish victims of the Holocaust, established in 1953 through the Yad Vashem Law passed by the Knesset, Israel's parliament....
in Jerusalem - The Austrian Holocaust Memorial ServiceAustrian Holocaust Memorial ServiceThe Austrian Holocaust Memorial Service is an alternative to Austria's compulsory national military service / alternative service founded in 1992. Since 1998 it is part of the Austrian Service Abroad...