From Wikipedia:

“The Piazza della Loggia bombing (Italian: attentato di Piazza della Loggia) was a bombing that took place on the morning of 28 May 1974, in Brescia, Italy during an anti-fascist protest. The terrorist attack killed eight people and wounded 102.”

That’s the Palazzo della Loggia and the Piazza della Loggia in downtown Brescia. I took that photo in December 2022 during one of my many visits with my dear friends there.

Citizens of Brescia awoke this morning to find Neo-Nazi symbols spray-painted in the piazza, a beautiful Renaissance square in the city center.

Just a few days ago, Neo-Nazis staged an unauthorized rally in their city.

The Neo-Nazi thugs are drawn there in part because Brescia — led by a democratic, left-leaning mayor — is the one holdout city in a region now awash in post-Fascist attitudes. (Italy’s current government coalition defines itself as “post-Fascist” and traces its political roots back to Mussolini.)

A good friend of mine in the wine business, a gentile, recently complained to me about how much anti-Semitic language he heard on his last trip to Italy.

I’ve had my own recent encounters with rabid anti-Semitism in Italy.

You can see images of the vandalism here. And you can read the mayor’s response on her Instagram here. (Disclosure: she is a good friend of ours.)

I’ll be heading back to Italy in early 2025 for work. But before I roll up my sleeves and set about making a living, I already know what my first stop is going to be.

I’ll say a Kaddish for those who died there fighting for freedom in 1974. I’ll need a minyan. Will you join me?

Thank you, Mayor Castelletti, for standing up to these hooligans. I stand with you!