“In the face of absolute evil, remembrance is a duty. The Italian Parliament, one of the first in Europe, has made this day a solemn occasion for public reflection on a dark time in our history. To honour the victims of the atrocious Nazi-Fascist barbarity. And to pay homage to the many men and women who, in those extraordinary circumstances, acted with heroism and opposed the negation of humanity”.
This is the message from Foreign Minister Giulio Terzi on the eve of Holocaust Memorial Day, which takes place on 27 January 2012. The Minister underscored that the Shoah occurred “in part because the slaughterers acted in the midst of the many who chose not to see”.
“The Foreign Ministry will mark Holocaust Memorial Day with events and initiatives organised by our embassies, consulates and Italian Cultural Institutes worldwide”, continued Terzi. “We are all called to remind the young generations of the horrors of those years. Our children must be convinced and vigilant participants in the battle against all forms of discrimination, in the memory of what happened in those dark days”.
“During the year that has just ended”, reads Prime Minister Mario Monti’s Memorial Day message, “Italy has renewed the memory of its birth as a unified state. During the celebrations, the contribution made by the Jewish community and the many illustrious Italians who are members of that community were given just and grateful prominence. With this new year, we are once again preparing to mark Holocaust Memorial Day, the sad and long-established commemoration held on 27 January. A day that sees the Jewish community take front place in the painful memory of the inhuman Nazi crimes that produced the tragedy of the Shoah”.
Prime Minister Monti’s message continues: “To cite the President of the Republic, Giorgio Napolitano, the 150th anniversary of the Unity of Italy was an opportunity for us to make a collective examination of conscience and to question ourselves on the value of civil co-existence and the credibility of our institutions. And the Memory evoked by 27 January is an opportunity for an even wider-ranging reflection that opens up the horizons of Europe. It was in a United Europe that Alcide de Gasperi and the Founding Fathers saw the only possibility of ensuring that the tragic events that had stained our continent could not be repeated: Nazism, Fascism, war, and the deportation and extermination of millions of human beings”.
“To examine these issues in greater depth”, announced Monti, “my office and the Union of Italian Jewish Communities have jointly organised a Round Table on “The Shoah and the European Identity”. It is no coincidence that many other European countries commemorate this date, 27 January – the day the gates of Auschwitz were broken down – as Holocaust Memorial Day. A day that Italy honours with its highest institutions and the whole-hearted participation of civil society.
Our country has learned from the errors and horrors of the past and, from this lesson, has built its identity on the values of human dignity, freedom, democracy and equality. The same values on which the European Union was founded and from which it has flourished. “Today more than ever, history and remembrance require the commitment and courage of us all, at every level. Italy and Europe are living through a difficult period: the economic crisis, but above all the risk of a crisis of values. In this context, more than ever, we must be vigilant to ensure that no new episodes of anti-Semitism, xenophobia or intolerance can undermine our fundamental values. If such episodes were to take place, the effort we are making together to strengthen and build upon our civil co-existence would be futile.
“I have already said”, concluded Prime Minister Monti, “that if it is to be overcome in all its grave dimensions, the crisis (indeed every crisis, I would add), requires us to look to the future with courage and with hope. But it also requires us to re-discover our roots. A point I reiterate today with even greater force. The Memory of the Shoah is a fundamental and inherent element of those roots, an anchorage that prevents us from abandoning our goal. A goal that is and remains that of peace, justice and freedom for each and every individual and each and every people. With these sentiments, which I know the entire country shares, my thoughts are with the Jewish community. And I renew the commitment of the institutions to ensure that the spirit of remembrance remains fresh in the personal and collective conscience of all Italians”.
