In commemoration of the 70th anniversary of the tragic events of 1943-1945, Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Paolo Gentiloni and his German counterpart Frank-Walter Steinmeier, will take part in a ceremony on Monday 9 November at 9:40 for the inauguration of a project for the construction of a culture of memory to be held in the town hall of Ponte Buggianese (province of Pistoia), once the theatre of a Nazi massacre.
The two ministers will go on to the offices of the prefecture of Pisa where a bilateral meeting will be followed by a joint press conference.
The memory project, financed through the “Italo-German Fund for the Future” set up in Germany in 2014, includes the permanent “Eccidio del Padule di Fucecchio” Documentation Centre regarding.
The joint presence of the Italian and German foreign ministers is a highly symbolic gesture intended to honour and pass down the memory of the victims of Nazi barbarism. The event falls within the context of a common commitment to the construction of a shared memory of the Italo-German war, and completes the cycle of 70th anniversaries of tragedies that took place between 1943- and 1945. It follows the visits by President Emeritus Giorgio Napolitano and his German opposite number Joachim Gauck to Sant’Anna di Stazzema in March of 2013, and by Ministers Mogherini and Steinmeier to Civitella Val di Chiana in June of 2014.
Members of the press interested in covering the event are kindly asked to apply for credentials from the Foreign Ministry Press Service by sending an e-mail to accreditamentostampa@esteri.it (tel. 06/3691 3432 – 8573).
Requests for accreditation must be received no later than 12:00 on Friday 6 November.
For the Ponte Buggianese Ceremony accredited members of the press are asked to report no later than 8:45:
- in Piazza dei Martiri for the laying of the laurel wreath at the monument commemorating the massacre (planned for 9:40);
- in Via Capannone for inauguration ceremony at the “Eccidio di Padule di Fucecchio” Documentation Centre (planned for 10.00).
For the joint press conference accredited members of the press are asked to report by 11:45 to the Prefettura di Pisa in piazza Mazzini, 7.
