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The Only Memorial Ever, on the 1956 Exodus of Jews from Egypt

The only Memorial ever, for the Jews of Egypt Refugees:
"The Stele of Brindisi" in Italy.

Carolina Delburgo, representative for Italy of our International Association of Jews from Egypt, initiated in 2006 the first and only MEMORIAL ever, for the Jews from Egypt Refugees: THE STELE OF BRINDISI.
Carolina was only eleven in November 1956, when her father had been imprisoned by the Egyptian authorities together with thousands of other Jews. He was then expelled from Egypt with his family, leaving behind his whole life and assets.
Delburgo visited the refugee camp at Brindisi in 2006, searching for the exact date of her arrival in 1956. She was stirred by memories. But she also heard that the municipality of Brindisi intended to pull down the camp, and replace it with something else. Carolina Delburgo decided to fight and convince the municipality of Brindisi to keep the camp as a memorial to the Egyptian Jewish refugees, as well as to those citizens of Brindisi who helped absorb them.
And she succeeded. Here follows the moving inscription on the stele of Brindisi. It commemorates November 29, 2006, 50 years after the mass expulsion of Jews from Egypt, and the arrival in Brindisi of the ship Achylleos. One ship among hundreds of ships and airplanes, taking out of Egypt those thousands of expelled and fleeing Jews:

On the morning of the 29.11.1956 the ship Achylleos coming from Egypt anchored in the port of Brindisi. It transported Jewish Refugees, especially Italians, expelled from their homes in the darkness and silence of the night, when nobody could see them to express some solidarity.
They left everything in Egypt, and nothing was waiting for them in Italy. But they encountered comprehension, solidarity, friendship in Brindisi, and in the Center of Bocca di Puglia. It is between those very walls that they regained confidence and from here they began to reconstruct their own lives.
This story is an example of the solidarity and commitment that the citizens of Puglia
reserved for the refugees, the abandoned and exiled. This is a testimony on stone, and a grateful memory in the heart of those who did not forget.
"Peace and Liberation for Jews will come from another place"
(translated from the Hebrew):
"Revàh ve atzalà ya ammòd le iehudìm mi maqòm achèr (Meguilat Esther 4,14)

The Stele inauguration was attended by the Mayor of Brindisi, the Cultural Representative of the Region of Puglia, and Carolina Delburgo, representing the Italian Jews of Egypt.
One thing is for sure, the spoilt Egyptian Jews did not stay a minute longer than they had to in the camp, given the choice!

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