Storie restituite

Storie restitute brings to an end a two-year long project to reorganise and catalogue Cariplo’s EGELI (Ente gestione e liquidazione immobiliare – Agency for the management and liquidation of real estate) archive collection, curated by the Historical Archives of Intesa Sanpaolo within the framework of Progetto Cultura.

EGELI was set up in 1939 as a government body and played a key role in expropriating Jewish people under Italy’s racial laws. The confiscation between 1939 and 1945 of the movable and immovable assets owned by Jews living in Italy is a little-known aspect of the Fascist regime’s antisemitic policy; but the measures were the first step towards outright persecution, depriving many citizens of their basic livelihoods and excluding them from civil society.

By telling six stories – those of Eugenio Colorni, Rinaldo Jona, Aurelia Josz, Gino Emanuele Neppi, Shulim Vogelmann and Azienda Alfredo Sonnino/Piero Sonnino – chosen from the Archives’ 1,500-plus named files on Italian and foreign Jewish citizens, the exhibition sheds light on the closely interwoven historical and human aspects revealed by the documents. The symbolic immersion among the shelves of an archive invites visitors to reflect on the importance of safeguarding and optimising the collections, without which most of these stories would never had come to light.

By publishing the catalogue of Fondo Cariplo’s EGELI Collection online and making it available for consultation in the reading room at 3, Via Morone, Milan, Intesa Sanpaolo’s Historical Archives have returned a collection of great historic importance to the community; it has made this documentary heritage available to everyone, in the firm conviction that these sources must be passed on not only to the historians who study them using the interpretive tools of their trade, but most importantly to the new generations who will not be able to listen to eye-witness accounts of the events.