‘Coloured Evenings’ for Remembrance Day Marks Holocaust Memorial in Helsinki

Helsinki: On the occasion of Holocaust Memorial Day, the Italian Cultural Institute in Helsinki, at the instigation of the Italian Embassy in Finland, organised a concert, in the form of a musical story, entitled ‘Ferramonti. Coloured Evenings’, curated by Laura Vergallo Levi, Sofia Weck, and Francesco Grigolo, from the Civica Scuola di Musica di Milano, named after Claudio Abbado.

According to Ansa News Agency, the event was sponsored by the Calabria Region, the UCEI – Union of Italian Jewish Communities, the Ferramonti di Tarsia International Museum of Memory, and the Dante Alighieri Society of Cosenza. It was held at the German Church of Helsinki. The musical narration tells the story of the internees in the Ferramonti di Tarsia camp, located in the province of Cosenza.

Among the prisoners in the camp were numerous talented artists and musicians of Jewish origin from Austria, Germany, France, and Poland. Despite the tragedy of racially motivated imprisonment, the internees at Ferramonti managed to pres
erve their humanity and dignity through culture, organising shows and concerts known as ‘Coloured Evenings’. These evenings featured jazz, cabaret, and operetta, providing comfort and allowing glimmers of hope.

The show was inspired by an extraordinary musical legacy: a box containing scores, manuscripts, photographs, diaries, and letters. These are tangible evidence of the artistic and human liveliness of the internees of Ferramonti, brought back to life through the philological reconstruction by the group of artists performing for the first time abroad in Helsinki, following the success of the Milanese performances.

The event was introduced by the Italian Ambassador in Helsinki, Nicola Todaro Marescotti, who highlighted the need to keep the memory of the Shoah alive, supported by initiatives such as ‘Serate Colorate’.