In Italy as in the whole world today, January 27th, the Day of Remembrance is celebrated to remember the victims of Nazism, millions of people killed for their race, nationality, or political ideology.
A horror that has caused about 6 million deaths, not only Jews, victims of systematic persecution since 1933, the year in which Hitler came to power in Germany.
An extermination that also affected Jehovah's Witnesses, nomadic ethnic groups, homosexuals and transsexuals, political dissidents.
The date was chosen because on January 27, 1945 the Soviet army entered the Auschwitz concentration camp, discovering and revealing its horror to the world.
MATTARELLA AND DRAGHI - "The Day of Remembrance, which is celebrated today all over the world, does not only require us to remember the millions of deaths, griefs and sufferings of so many innocent victims, including many Italians. But it invites us to prevent and fight, today and in the future, every germ of racism, anti-Semitism, discrimination and intolerance. Starting from the school desks. Because knowledge, information and education play a fundamental role in promoting a just and supportive society. , as recent news episodes attest, the guard must never be let down ". These are the words of the President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella.
"Today we remember the horror of anti-Semitism and we renew our collective commitment to oppose any attempt to erase memory. Remembering is a commitment to the present, a foundation for the future", said Prime Minister Mario Draghi.
THE CELEBRATIONS - This year, for the first time, the EU Commission has decided to illuminate its headquarters, the Berlaymont building with #WeRemember, joining a global campaign organized by Unesco and the World Jewish Congress.
"The Holocaust was a European disaster. Anti-Semitism led to this disaster. Anti-Semitism dehumanizes the Jewish people. In Nazi Germany, this dehumanization opened the doors to the Shoah. We must never forget," said Ursula Von. der Leyen.
In Rome, as per tradition, the presidents of the Chamber and Senate place a wreath of flowers in Largo October 16, 1943 in Rome, a symbol of the deportation of Roman Jews. The institutions are received by Ruth Dureghello, Noemi Di Segni and the chief rabbi of Rome Riccardo Di Segni.
Enrico Letta tweeted his first action of this delicate day in view of the election of the President of the Republic: “In meditation in the ghetto for the Day of Remembrance”.
IN CAGLIARI - In Cagliari, this morning, the ceremony at the National Archaeological Museum, with the title of the entrance space to Doro Levi, full professor at the University of Cagliari in Greek and Roman Archeology and History of Art, who left the capital to the United States of America in 1938 because of the racial laws, after only three years in which he also held the direction of the Superintendency of Sardinia. "The city owes a debt to Doro Levi who, after World War II, saved and made our Roman amphitheater usable", said the mayor Truzzu. "Memory - he reiterated - is this: remembering who we are, remembering our identity and looking to the future. Doro Levi will have, for Cagliari and its citizens, the space it really deserves". With the mayor, Francesco Muscolino and the archaeologist Maria Antonietta Mongiu, respectively director and board member of the Archaeological Museum, professor Maria Del Zompo, former rector of the city university, and the prefect Gianfranco Tomao.
Also this morning, the Metropolitan City and the Prefecture of Cagliari organized a commemorative event at the Palazzo Regio, during which the medals granted by decree by the President of the Republic, in memory of the Italian citizens forced to forced labor in the Nazi camps, were awarded. In live streaming, also the 3C students of the State Comprehensive Institute "Santa Caterina", winner of the national competition announced by Miur "Young people remember the Shoah", were awarded.
"Today we celebrate the Day of Remembrance to guard all pain and love, so that no face is forgotten. We commemorate the victims of those very serious crimes and we honor those who have opposed, often at the risk of their lives, the murderous madness by offering help to the persecuted. ". Thus the bishop of Cagliari, Monsignor Giuseppe Baturi, addressing a thought and a reflection to the victims of that horror.
IN SASSARI - City council in solemn session in Sassari for the Day of Remembrance in the presence of the citizen students and the prefect Paola Dessì, who addressed them citing Primo Levi. "Understanding is impossible, knowing is necessary - he said - what happened can return, consciences can be seduced and obscured again".
After the speeches by President Maurilio Murru and Mayor Nanni Campus, the word was passed to the students with readings, videos and other contributions on Sardinian deportees, women who lived through those events, racism, round-ups and deportations.
(Unioneonline / L - vl)