JUDAICA

From the Italian port of Bocca di Magra, with 1024 immigrants on board, the Haapala ship “Four Freedoms” (named after a speech by Franklin D. Roosevelt) departed for Israel on August 23, 1946.
At the time, my mother, Fiorenza Nencioni, was an eighteen year old who spent her first summer holiday in Bocca di Magra after World War II.
She enjoyed swimming, and was skilled enough to cross the Magra river to meet the Jewish immigrants there, camping for days, waiting as the “Four Freedoms” prepared to set
sail.
She was deeply moved by the tragic tales of the young people she met, but also impressed by their hope in a better future in the Land of Israel.
She developed a profound interest in the Jewish culture that she transmitted to me.
In 2007, upon the kind invitation by our friend Ely Levishon, I traveled with my mother to Jerusalem ,her last holydays.
I dedicate my efforts to make beautiful pieces of Judaica to my mother’s memory.

Gianfranco Pampaloni