Jewish Migrations from North Africa and the Middle East to Milan (1940s-1970s)
A project by Piera Rossetto
During the second half of the 20th century, the Jewish presence in the Middle East and North African (MENA) region was almost put to an end by events that destabilised the entire area. This represents a complex phenomenon spanning time and space that cannot be thoroughly encapsulated by a single term. In this context, Italy as well became eventually home to a composite MENA Jewish population. Although a marginal case in comparison to other resettlement directories (Israel, France, or Canada), these waves of migration deeply affected and transformed Italian Jewry, especially - but not only - in demographic terms. The visualisation concerns the specific case of Milan (Italy) and it is based on more than 100 interviews conducted by the CDEC Foundation - Edoth Project (2011-2019) with Jews from Egypt, Iran, Lebanon, Syria, and Libya who settled in the city between the 1940s and 1970s. The general map highlights the settlement trip to Milan from the country of origin. By clicking on the individual trajectory, dashed lines display the intermediate trips. Through this sample of interviews, the visualisation attempts to depict the overall complexity of the migratory phenomenon while paying attention to the peculiarity of each journey.
CREDITS
Project funded by the FWF (Austrian Science Fund) grant T1024-G28
Original idea, texts and data elaboration by Piera Rossetto
User experience & interface design by Sara Radice
Software design & development by Fabio Sturaro
Thanks to the CDEC Foundation for providing access to the Edoth Project archival sources