Today during class, we talked about genocide issues in multiple countries. It’s sad to say that nobody could come up with a solution. Especially since the government is the main leader behind genocides.

It was an afternoon full of education. We rode the public bus to the Jewish Ghettos. The bus ride was interesting because it was crowded and there weren’t any seats in it. Everyone just stands and holds on to the railing overhead. I was hoping I wouldn’t fall.

The ghettos were not what I was expecting at all. Honestly, they didn’t look all that awful. Then again, buildings have probably been restored and repainted, since the area is still active today. Also, any type of segregation that takes place is awful. The area was filled with many restaurants, all of which followed Kosher laws. Like always, there was graffiti everywhere, but nothing bad. There was one area that was very run down because it had been burned, even though the buildings were made of marble. Marble doesn’t usually burn, but the frames of the buildings were made of wood, which explains why the fire was able to burn, and thus make the marble crumble in on itself.

We viewed a Jewish Synagogue next, but were not able to take any pictures because of security reasons. There had previously been a bomb threat, and out bags had to be checked before entering the building. Our tour guide explained how Jews were not persecuted much in Rome because they didn’t branch out to other people. On the other hand, Christians were persecuted because they were constantly trying to convert pagans into Christians, which is a problem because Christianity is monotheistic and they would no longer be able to worship Mithras, Venus, and any other pagan God. It was rare that Jewish Synagogues were burned by the Nazis during WW2 in Rome. I learned about the colors which decorated the inside of the synagogue: red and gold was meant to symbolize a union with the city of Rome (since these were the “team colors”) and the church, and the beautiful rainbow colors on the square dome ceiling represented peace.

Afterwards, we went into another Catholic Church which had art from different time periods. The artwork on the ceiling showed angelic babies; very detailed and three dimensional looking. Yet, the painting behind the church’s alter showed the hand of God, saints, and other religious symbols in two dimensional form and purely facing forwards, and used small tile instead of paint to piece the picture together.