ITALY. Casale Monferrato. Medal 1902 (Silver, 41 mm, 31.34 g). CASALE MONFERRATO Female, holding wreath, seated to left on podium; vine above; agricultural tools to left; amphora to right. Rev. A / SALOMON GIOVANNI / PER / "AMARO BIBLICO" / FEBBRAIO 1902 within wreath. Extremely rare and of great interest. Good extremely fine.

Giovanni Salomon, to whom this medal was awarded, must have been a member of the century-old sizeable Jewish community in Casale Monferrato. The medal was given to him for 'Amaro Biblico', which translates as 'biblical bitterness' and is a reference to Marah, a location on the biblical Exodus. Here, after much hardship, the Israelites received the first divine ordinances and the basis of Shabbat from Yahweh. We do not know why Giovanni Salomon received the medal, but we can assume that he also endured severe hardships.

Unfortunately, many of the Jews living in Casale Monferrato were deported to concentration camps in November 1943, and no less than 59 of them died either in Auschwitz or Mauthausen. Today, the 16th-century synagogue of Casale Monferrato, often considered one of the most beautiful synagogues in all of Europe, still stands, despite all hardships, in the heart of the city's former Jewish ghetto, proclaiming to the world the continued existence and persistence of the local Jewish community.