Guest Speaker Series presents The Jewish Ghetto in Venice

European Jewish History is often taught as a separate branch of broader European history. But the history of Jews in Venice reveals an intertwining of Jewish and Venetian history, so much so that the one cannot be studied without the other. This lecture will explore the role of Jews from their settlement in 16th century Venice to the 20th century and the end of WWII. I will discuss the ways in which the Jewish experience in Venice both mirrored and deviated from the experience of other immigrant groups in the city in that early period, as well as describe the rules governing Jewish life within the Ghetto (the word “Ghetto” is in fact a Venetian word). We will examine the rules and regulations governing Jewish residents of the city, and contrast these rules with the ways in which life actually functioned. Specifically, I want to discuss how the presence of Jews shaped and was shaped by the economic and political agendas of the city government as well as the Catholic Church. I go on to talk about the evolution of the Ghetto through the centuries, and finally discuss the Jewish experience in Venice under Fascism and the German occupation of the city. I will conclude by describing the Ghetto today, and its role in the life of the city.