The Exceptional Case
Italy’s New Nazi Trials and their Significance for Human Rights Today
The Miller Institute for Global Challenges and the Law and the Human Rights Center at the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law, together with the Jewish Community Center of San Francisco and Jewish Federation of the East Bay, are sponsoring three related programs in October 2011 that will explore Italy’s ongoing reckoning with the crimes of World War II. This series will focus on the largest single massacre of Italian civilians carried out by German troops in Italy, and one recent criminal trial that gave life sentences to ten Germans and fines of more than $100 million. Connecting the political to the personal, these programs will examine the high cost of the crimes of war to national governments as well as individual citizens today.
Featuring two award-winning Italian films (with English subtitles):
Lo stato di eccezione/The State of Exception: A Trial for the Monte Sole Massacre after 62 Years (2008) Directed by Germano Maccioni Special Jury Prize at the Libero Bizzarri Doc Film Festival
L’uomo che verrà/The Man Who Will Come (2009) Directed by Giorgio Diritti David di Donatello for Best Film in 2010 among many other honors
Through the documentary and creative lenses of film, we can better understand how a major historical trauma has continued to mark the lives of individuals and nations even several decades afterward. In the case of Italy, these repercussions are international—meaningful for Germany and the United States, as well as anyone with an interest in human rights today. A panel of cultural and legal experts will be on hand to discuss them, together with an Italian filmmaker and actor who played an important role in each film being discussed. Special guests include an Italian-American survivor of a Nazi forced labor camp who received Italy’s Medal of Honor earlier this year.
These programs are (in chronological order):
The Man Who Will Come: A Conversation about Remembering the Monte Sole Massacre of 1944. Saturday, Oct. 22 (6:30–9:30 p.m.) at the Orinda Theatre, 2 Orinda Theatre Square in Orinda Italian director/actor Germano Maccioni, who plays the role of Don Ubaldo Marchioni in The Man Who Will Come, will join UC Berkeley scholar Lenore Kitts and Italian jurist Andrea Speranzoni in a special program on Oct. 22. Combing their expertise in Italian film, culture, and law, they will address the legal and human outcome of the historical events depicted in the film in remarks before and after the screening starting at 6:30 p.m. The film will be presented several times each day between Oct. 21 and 27. Check the theatre’s website for the schedule as well as information about parking and the Orinda BART. Local restaurants will offer special menus featuring Italian cuisine throughout the week.
Massacre at Marzabotto: Italy’s New Verdict on the Crimes of World War II. Sunday, Oct. 23 (12 to 6 p.m.) in Room 105 of Boalt Hall, School of Law on the UC Berkeley campus (Bancroft Way at Piedmont Avenue) This afternoon symposium will present The State of Exception followed by a conversation with the filmmaker and refreshments. Afternoon panels will probe questions related to reparations for World War II and other forms of international justice and historical memory in Italy and elsewhere in the world where human rights have been at stake. In addition to Italian counsel for victims in the Marzabotto trial, speakers include the Hon. Rebecca Westerfield and UC Berkeley scholars Richard Buxbaum, Eric Stover, and Lenore Kitts, among others. Other highlights include a special interview with an Italian-American war survivor. Free and open to the public. Free street parking with garage parking for a fee nearby, and walking distance to BART in downtown Berkeley. Courtesy RSVP to ndonovan@law.berkeley.edu.
Nazi War Criminals: Justice At Last? Monday, Oct. 24 (7-9 p.m.) at the Jewish Community Center, 3200 California Street, San Francisco The director of The State of Exception together with an Italian jurist featured in this film will join Rabbi Menachem Creditor of Congregation Netivot Shalom in Berkeley and UC Berkeley scholars Lenore Kitts, Richard Buxbaum, and Eric Stover in a discussion of Italy’s war crimes trials and the connection between reparations and crimes committed against Italians and European Jews during World War II. Check the JCC’s website for pricing and parking information.