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Special to The Jewish News

A

fter years of political
pressure from the
Jewish community of
Italy, the Jewish catacombs,
for a century under the
guardianship of the Vatican
and now of the state, will
soon be available for public
viewing — that is, if world
Jewry can foot the bill.
The Union of Italian
Jewish Communities, the
Superintendency of Archae-
ology of Rome and the newly
formed Jewish Heritage
Council are sponsoring a
complete documentation of
the two surviving catacombs
of Rome and the preparation
of an extensive report for
future preservation.
The actual excavation will
be up to Jewish philan-
thropy and fund-raising.
"The stage is now set," said
Tullia Zevi, president of the
Union of Italian Jewish
Communities. "It now
depends on us. We Jews can
become masters of these im-
portant relics of our heritage
if we can raise the funds."
Since Italy's reunification
in 1870, and more formally
since the 1929 Concordat
between the Italian govern-
ment and the Holy See, the
two remaining Jewish
catacombs in Rome have
been under the guardianship
of the Vatican.
During that time, the
catacombs have remained
closed to the public, their ar-
tifacts removed and stored in
various Vatican museums
and warehouses.
In 1984, under Jewish
community pressure, guard-
ianship was transferred
back to the state and
ceremonies of transfer took
place in 1987 and 1988.
Since then, the catacombs
have been caught in a bu-
reaucratic spider web,
awaiting authorization and
funding for preservation pro-
jects.
"The Jewish community
has had to push very hard to
get authorization," said
Bonnie Burnham, executive
director of the World
Monuments Fund. "With
only 35,000 Jews, the state
was unconvinced that they
had the resources. Moreover,
for the private sector to offer
help is greeted with great
surprise" by Italian au-
thorities, who are over-
burdened with worthy ex-
cavation projects.
The catacombs are of great

historical significance to
Italian Jewry. Although it
may be small, the Italian
Jewish community is the
oldest continuous Jewish
settlement in Europe. And
the catacombs, which date
from the first to the fourth
centuries C.E., constitute
the most extensive evidence
of ancient Jewish Diaspora
culture.
With detailed descriptions
about the people buried
within them, the catacombs
reveal the breadth of ac-
complishment of the Jews of
ancient Rome, then compris-
ing as much as 10 percent of
the population of the empire.
Wall frescoes depict
menorot, the shofar and
etrog, and other Jewish
ritual subjects along - with
peacocks, serpents, cupids,
garlands, winged victories
and nude athletes. This,
along with the fact that in-
scriptions are written in
Greek, Latin and Hebrew,
suggest the cultural
assimilation of Roman Jews
and Roman toleration for
Jews.
"The catacombs open a
new book of how our
forefathers centuries ago
lived," Zevi said. "We want
this to become a regular
monument that tourists in
Rome see."
The Jewish Heritage
Council will begin with an
investigation of the micro-
climate, site stability and
fresco condition of the
catacombs, the cost of which
is approximately $50,000.
The council estimates the
cost of possible future pres-
ervation at $400,000.
Previous estimates have
been as high as $5 million.
According to Zevi, the
Italian state will pick up a
large share of the preserva-
tion costs, but the major fi-
nancial problem is paying
for guards. The cost of keep-
ing up a public site is high,
and Zevi's plan at present is
to have the catacombs open
only two days a week.
Zevi has been looking for a
financial partner in the
United States, but has had
little luck so far. In 1985,
Zevi initiated the formation
of the Italian Jewish
Heritage Foundation of
America for the purpose of
raising money for the
catacombs. "It never work-
ed," she said. "For many
years, there has been little
interest on the part of
American Jews in Jewish
projects outside of Israel."

Jewish Telegraphic Agency

0

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