Italy: An all but forgotten monument on the Tuscan coast marks a little-known chapter in the early history of the state of Israel

An all but forgotten monument on Italy’s Tuscan coast marks a little-known chapter in the early history of the state of Israel – a plane disaster on New Year’s Eve 1948 that took the lives of 13 people, including the Israeli chemist Ladislaus Farkas, founder of the Department of Physical Chemistry at Hebrew University.

Few people visit the monument (or even seem to know about it), but JHE’s Ruth Ellen Gruber made her way to the neglected site this summer while on a visit to the Tuscan coast, after hearing about it from an acquaintance and watching a YouTube video posted in February by local heritage activists seeking it out.

The twin-engine Douglas C-47 Dakota, run by the Jewish-owned South African charter company Pan African Air Charter (PAAC), crashed in bad weather on December 31, 1948 around 5:52 p.m. near the summit of Monte Argentario, a rocky promontory opposite the town of Orbetello that is connected to the mainland by narrow strips of land that create a lagoon.

PAAC’s  planes were used extensively during and after the 1948 Arab-Israeli war; during the war to ferry volunteers from South Africa and after the war on flights between the new State of Israel and Europe.

The plane that crashed was on a route that began in Israel, with a stop in Athens, and was heading toward Nice, France. The assumption is that pilot error due to poor visibility in the driving rain and low clouds caused the disaster. 

A simple stele, around two meters or so tall, with a black marble plaque inscribed with the names of the dead marks the crash scene, in rough, overgrown terrain above the Convent of Frati Passionisti, a monastery built in the 18th century. (It is not clear when the monument was erected.)

Written in Hebrew and Italian, it bears the menorah emblem of the state of Israel and includes a verse from Psalm 78 and the text “On December 31 1948/29 Kislev 5708, an airplane crashed on this mountain, and precious lives were sundered.”

In addition to Farkas, those who perished included five crew members, three Israeli soldiers, and four other Israeli civilians.

The original plaque was reported in bad condition in 2022. A new plaque, which has some spelling corrections of the names, now is positioned leaning against the lower part of the monument. (It is not clear whether it had been affixed to cover the original plaque and fallen off, or if it was never attached there.)

Today, you reach the monument via what was once a path but now resembles a rocky, brush-choked dry stream bed that rises steeply above the monastery.

Originally, the path was maintained and was marked with a sign in Italian, English, and Hebrew  pointing the way. But the sign was removed — possibly blown down in a storm — some years ago and is now conserved in the monastery.

One of the nine priests who lives there brought it out to show, and also led the way up the rocky trail to the monument.

It was sadly indicative of today’s moment that both he and the heritage activists in the YouTube video suggested that it might be best to leave the way to the monument unmarked and overgrown, to discourage potential vandals.

See pictures described as the crash scene on Facebook

Read a 2022 report about the monument (in Italian)

Read about PAAC operations, including ferrying South African volunteers, during and after the 1948 war

Watch the YouTube video (in Italian)