The Museum of Memory and Hospitality collects evidence of the stay in Santa Maria al Bagno of Jews who survived the horror of the extermination camps of the Second World War.
In Puglia, which had just been liberated by the Allies, starting in September 1943, a flow of refugees, mostly from the Balkans, affected the Region. In addition to a selection of photos and documents from that period, the Museum of Memory and Hospitality houses the Murales by Zvi Miller, recovered after a complex work directed by the restorer Nori Meo-Evoli. It has a section dedicated to temporary exhibitions and a bookshop where particular attention is given to illustration.
Among the Jewish refugees in Santa Maria al Bagno was a painter, Zivi Miller, who survived the Holocaust, where he had lost his entire family. Miller discovered an abandoned hut in the uncultivated fields that bordered the town and transformed it into his own painting studio, also creating three large murals inside.
In the first mural, an arrow connects the concentration camps of central Europe (represented by barbed wire) to Puglia, from where a long procession of celebrating Jews leaves for Palestine (depicted with desert palms and the Star of David, inscribed in the socialist symbol of the rising sun).
In the second mural, two Jewish soldiers are lined up as an honor guard next to a table on which stands a menorah, also inscribed with the Star of David and the rising sun, lit in memory of the Zionist hero Joseph Trumpeldor.
In the third mural, a Jewish mother with two children, in front of a checkpoint with the barrier lowered and an English soldier on guard, demands to be allowed to enter Palestine.
Designed by architect Luca Zevi, the museum preserves the murals created by Zivi Miller and, with photos and documents from the period, recalls the experience of Jewish refugees who passed through Salento and their relationship with the Salento population.
Olio d'Oliva E.V. 100 cl
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