AS Roma and SS Lazio come together for October 16 project

The October 16 project will last one year and will consist of editorial content tailored for young people as well as a series of events held at schools, where – with the help of student-tutors from the Jewish high school in Rome – pupils will hear the stories of Roma and Lazio players and staff who suffered first-hand from the Italian racial laws and deportations, and who, in some cases, performed truly heroic acts.

Stories such as that of Geza Kertesz, the Hungarian coach who served as head coach of both Lazio and Roma during his career who, having left sport due to the war effort, managed to save more than one hundred Jews and other persecuted Hungarians from the German extermination camps, going so far as sacrificing his own life.

To commemorate the 80th anniversary of the tragedy that struck the Italian capital on 16 October 1943, the project – devised with the help of the Fondazione SS Lazio 1900 – will culminate in a trip to relevant sites of remembrance, attended by a selection of students from the schools involved.

AS Roma underlines its commitment to the local community through projects and campaigns like this one, aimed at supporting the development of young people, recognising the fundamental and irreplaceable social and educational role that sport plays.