In October 1941, the synagogue of Trieste was badly defaced. This attack had been preceded by several outbursts of violence beginning as early as May 1940, as reported in press releases such those issued by the Jewish Telegraph Agency of New York.

Previous to the 1941 attack on the synagogue, there had also been an attempt on 10 October to destroy a plaque posted on the Jewish buildings located on via del Monte. Several days later, in a series of acts following one another in rapid succession, the synagogue was first defaced by attackers throwing red painting and immediately afterwards by a series of swastikas, fasces, halters and anti-Semitic writings, such as "death to Jews" (a morte i Giudei).

Exterior of the synagogue of Trieste after the 19 October 1941 Fascist attack Source: Rome, Archivio Centrale dello Stato, Ministero della Pubblica istruzione, Direzione Generale Antichità e Belle Arti, Divisione II, 1940-1945, box 164, folder 2937 © su concessione del Ministero per i beni e le attività culturali e per il turismo, n. 345/2020		Exterior of the synagogue of Trieste after the 19 October 1941 Fascist attack Source: Rome, Archivio Centrale dello Stato, Ministero della Pubblica istruzione, Direzione Generale Antichità e Belle Arti, Divisione II, 1940-1945, box 164, folder 2937 © su concessione del Ministero per i beni e le attività culturali e per il turismo, n. 345/2020

On 19 October, a similar attack was carried out against the Jewish school, followed by several incidents of Jewish people being threatened.

Photograph of the stone plaque commemorating the 1929 inauguration of the new Jewish school on via del Monte, placed above the main entrance © Courtesy of Comunità Ebraica di Trieste

On the same day the president of the Jewish community, Enrico Horitzky-Orsini (1887-1957), who as a lieutenant had taken part in D’Annunzio’s Fiume Endeavor, reported the attack to the Trieste chief of Police, Raffaele Capobianco. Horitzky-Orsini asked the chief of Police to take the necessary measures to stop these daily episodes of hostile and criminal acts against Jews. Only few days later, the 28 October issue of Fascist univeristy student group's fortnightly paper "Decima Regio" praised the vandalisim by publishing two photographs of the defaced synagogue in a threatening article entitled "Everyone has to know that, even in the matter of race, we stay the course. Mussolini, yellow badge".

"Jews naively try to camouflage themselves and acquire merit by decorating their temple with new ornaments..." Source: "Decima Regio", no. 1, 28 October 1941		"It would be better to follow the shortest path. That is, to offer the bronze doors to the homeland. A word to the wise..." Source: "Decima Regio", no. 1, 28 October 1941