A thriving Habsburg seaport at the time of Gino Parin’s birth in 1876
The city where Mussolini delivered his infamous speech in 1938
The location of the sole crematorium on Italian soil used during the Holocaust
When Trieste was part of the Habsburg and Austro-Hungarian Empires (1382-1920), the city thrived as a multi-cultural and multi-ethnic area that attracted artists and intellectuals such as Egon Schiele, James Joyce, Gustav Mahler, and Sigmund Freud.
Trieste’s sizable Jewish community enjoyed economic prosperity and religious freedom, having been encouraged to settle there under Empress Maria Theresa. In this enlightened city of commerce and art, the city’s Jewish population was commonly referred to as “port Jews,” acknowledging their many trades and contributions. Many Jewish families were also part of the city’s social elite. The 1912 synagogue in Trieste’s center was one of Europe’s largest and most elaborate Jewish temples.
In 1920, Trieste became part of Italy. The city’s population did not seem to mind at first since its liberal traditions were not threatened. However, in the 1930s, Trieste came under the influence of Italian fascism which began to exclude Jews.
The Piazza Unità d’Italia, Trieste’s main square, is located at the foot of San Giusto Hill and opens on one side to the Gulf of Trieste. The former Jewish ghetto was located behind it.
The 2019 image of the empty piazza (below) contrasts dramatically with how it looked in 1938 when Benito Mussolini came to the city to proclaim Italy’s new racial laws. These laws declared that Italian Jews did not truly belong in Italy. Thousands of onlookers packed the square and cheered as Mussolini characterized Judaism as an “irreconcilable enemy of fascism.” From this point on, Triestine Jews were, step by step, excluded from social, economic, and political life.
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