Once again this year, on Minister Terzi’s strong impetus and thanks to the committee for the coordination of Shoah memorial events set up by the Office of the Prime Minister, Italy is offering its citizens both in Italy and around the world a series of events commemorating the Day of Remembrance – 27 January, the day the gates of Auschwitz were flung open.
Italian law gives priority importance to the educational aspects of this commemoration, and calls for the organisation on this occasion of “ceremonies, initiatives, meetings and common moments of reflection and narration, particularly in schools at all levels, on what happened to the Jewish people and the Italian military and political deportees in Nazi camps, is such a way as to preserve the memory of a dark and tragic period in the history of our nation and of Europe as a whole so that nothing similar ever happens again”.
Journeys of recollection
In addition to the commemorations, there will be a series of “Journeys of recollection” to the extermination camps – such as that to Krakow and Auschwitz organised by the MIUR on 20 and 21 January with the participation of Education minister Francesco Profumo and Justice Minister Paola Severino.
From Moscow to Berlin, Prague to Warsaw, Lisbon to Bucharest, Minsk to Paris, Lugano to Ljubljana, Dublin, Helsinki, Brussels and Washington, Italian diplomatic missions have organized debates at schools, universities, museums, synagogues and cultural centres, book launches, film and documentary screenings and concerts. This year the Shoah celebrations shed a special light on the role of the Jewish Resistance and the revolts in the ghettos and death camps.
Ceremonies at Auschwitz and Jeruslaem
The ceremony in Jerusalem will be held at the Yad Vashem Memorial in the presence of Italian ambassador to Israel Francesco Maria Talò, and include a moment of silence at the Remembrance Curtain where a perpetual flame burns in memory of the victims. The speeches to follow in the auditorium will be broadcast live (TV and Internet), with the solemn dedication of the Milan Shoah Memorial, which Prime Minister Mario Monti will attend.
The 68th anniversary of the liberation was celebrated at Auschwitz and Birkenau, with Ambassador of Italy Riccardo Guariglia attending. Present also were representatives of Polish institutions led by Minister for Culture Zdrojewski, and a large Russian delegation led by President of the Duma Naryshkin, on hand also for the dedication of the new Russia exposition pavilion.
