Lazio/Roma: Anne Frank takes the field at Olympic Stadium

In a recent post about an afternoon spent in Val Melaina and Serpentara, I included the above photograph, of a piece of graffiti by a supporter of the Lazio soccer team linking Roma fans with Jews.  At the time, I thought it was just another example--and a simplistic one at that--of the anti-Semitism that appears regularly on Rome's walls.  I was wrong--wrong to see it as simple.


The posting coincided with a widely-reported story (featured in the New York Times and the Los Angeles Times, and of course in the Italian and European press): During a recent soccer game in Olympic Stadium--where the Roma and Lazio teams play on alternate Sundays--Lazio fans left

postcard-size stickers displaying an iconic image of Anne Frank, but  wearing a Roma jersey (above right).  Like the Serpentara graffiti I published, the idea behind the stickers was to associate the Roma club and its fans with Jews, suggesting a mutual insult.
 
From there things get more complex.  It seems that the city's Jewish community has historically leaned toward support of the A.S. Roma team.  In fact, as a Roman friend wrote us about the Val Malaina post, "Roman wealthy Jews in 1927 were part of the founders and initial supporters of the new team."  But it is also true that A.S. Roma's fans have at times taken an anti-Semitic stance, writing "Anne Frank roots for Lazio" on city walls, according to the New York Times.  Even so, that's a false equivalency.  In one infamous display at a game against Roma 2001, Lazio fans displayed a banner reading, "Auschwitz is your homeland/The Ovens are Your Homes." 

It didn't take long for soccer officialdom to speak out against the Anne Frank postcards.  The Lazio

club president, Claudio Lotito, laid a wreath of white and blue flowers (the team's colors) at the Rome synagogue on the Tiber (the city's chief Rabbi called it a "publicity stunt"; the wreath was soon seen

floating in the river).  Lazio players (above) showed up for practice wearing shirts with Anne Frank's picture and below, the words "No all' antisemitismo."  New Anna Frank stickers appeared, this time with the words "Siamo Tutti Anna Frank" (we are all Anne Frank). Around the league, team captains held copies of Primo Levi's holocaust memoir while others listened to readings from Frank's diary. 

There are all sorts of conclusions to be drawn.  I have only two thoughts.  First, this won't be the last time that Anne Frank plays a part in a soccer drama.  Second, a simple piece of graffiti may have a complex context.

Bill

Links to RST posts dealing with anti-Semitism--in soccer and on the walls of Rome:
WWII writer Czeslaw Milosz.
On the "myth of the good Italian."
Rome walls and neo-Fascist iconography.
Death of Gabriele Sandri, a Lazio fan.

Val Melaina, Serpentara: Can Rome's outer burbs Entertain?

Dianne was skeptical.  Bill had suggested a trip to Val Melaina and Serpentara, contiguous suburbs to the northwest of the city center, not far south of the GRA (the beltway).  He was sure that the area's curving streets would yield some modern architectural treasures.  Even the name "Serpentara" sounded mysterious, possibly dangerous.  Dianne reluctantly agreed to participate.




We began our journey at Junio, the last stop on the new B1 Metro line, which connects to the B line at Piazza Bologna.  Our first site was an apartment complex, seen here from the Junio Metro exit.











A long block up to the right (north), then a left turn and--lo and behold--an historical marker:

    In Questa Palazzina il Maestro
                     Vittorio De Sica
               nel 1948 Girava il film
                   "Ladri di Biciclette"

  De Sica directed parts of "The
    Bicycle Thief" (American title)
    in and around this apartment
    building.



Wow!  Here we were at the building where the master of Italian Neorealism crafted one of the most important films ever made.  How cool is Val Melaina!  And now we know these buildings
are mid-1940s at the latest.

We continued on a broad and, to be honest, uninspiring thoroughfare lined with undistinguished apartment buildings.















A shopping center, more like a strip mall, built for the automobile, across the street (right).















But then: an open-air market, hundreds of yards long.  We liked the sign that said, "A prezzi
fissi   Perfavor...non Perditempo"  (Fixed prices. Please don't waste my time [bargaining])

Another sign, advertising some product that makes bruschetta "facile" (easy).

At the far end of the market, a circular ramp led to an underground garage.  Bill admires anything
that's circular.



Ahead, now in Serpentara, a rather forlorn arcade-style market.  Not much traffic--but it was afternoon, and Italians were eating lunch.  Via Vergilio Talli.

Further on, a circular building that held out some hope of being engaging.

Inside the circular apartment building.  If you
want to visit, the name is Largo Fernando
de Lucia.  It looks very cool on a map.  Today, at this hour, not exactly a hive of activity.

And a wine bar--miraculous!  Unfortunately, it wasn't cocktail hour.

And a not-bad stairway.  The Italians lead the world in designing stairways, imho.


















As we left the complex, a Lazio fan depicted fans of the Roma team as Jews ("Romanista ebreo"). Clever!

On our return, along viale Lina Cavalieri, we passed by this monumental church in the c. 1970 brutalist style.  What a marvel! How many tons of concrete!  Might make a good bomb shelter.

And this handsome modernist structure (left), straight out of the 1930s, or so it seemed.  Perhaps it owes something to Buffalo's grain silos, which were very influential for modernist architects.













Some wall writing whose meaning wasn't clear, to us anyway:  "Valerio Combatte Communista" (complete with hammer and sickle).

Stopped at this cafe for a Coca Lite--at a table outside.  Really a bathroom break.  Though Dianne does need a regular Coca Lite fix. The tavola calda ('hot plate' lunch) looked good.

A nice piece of found art--one of Bill's hobbies.  At home
in Buffalo, Bill printed this on his Epson 3880 at 13 X 19 inches.  Looks fantastic.  Think 1920s Russian constructivism.

Back at the Jonio stop, several hours later.  They could have done better with this building.
Evaluating the walk: Thumbs up?  (Bill)  Thumbs down? (Dianne). In any event, we "burned some Cs."

Bill