The Day of Remembrance is not only intended to commemorate the victims of the massacres committed by Tito's communist partisans, but also to be a moment of reflection on the centuries-old presence of Italianness in the eastern Adriatic, as well as a perspective on the future of this border region: the city of Gorizia embodies all these elements.

This conviction emerged at the end of a video call between the mayor of the Julian capital Rodolfo Ziberna and Giuseppe de Vergottini, President of the Federation of Associations of Istrian, Fiume and Dalmatian Exiles and of Coordinamento Adriatico APS, an association that deals with research and in-depth studies on Adriatic Italianness.

Ziberna has been fighting for years to shed light on the fate of the hundreds of Gorizians deported by the Yugoslavian occupation forces after the end of the Second World War, also promoting collaboration with the authorities of Ljubljana, since the recent discoveries of mass graves across the border confirm that thousands of Slovenians were also victims of these massacres. The Peace Treaty of 10 February 1947 would then cut off the eastern outskirts of the city and Nova Gorica would arise from the suburb annexed to communist Yugoslavia, giving rise to a complex dynamic: a separating wall that in the midst of the Cold War recalled that of Berlin, moments of openness such as “Broom Sunday”, a cross-border confrontation that after Slovenian independence would lead to the birth of a very virtuous European Group for Territorial Cooperation.

"From these assumptions - explains de Vergottini - the victory of Nova Gorica as European Capital of Culture 2025 follows, representing Slovenia, but in synergy with Gorizia. The common membership in the European Union and the recent day of July 13 with the two Presidents of the Republic in Trieste are very significant aspects in the bilateral relations that we will keep well in mind already in the events that will characterize the next February 10"

In his speech at the end of 2020, President Sergio Mattarella referred to the European spirit that unites Gorizia and Nova Gorica: "In this way, the Quirinale - continues de Vergottini - reaffirmed the strategic nature of the agreement between Italy and Slovenia in a spirit of active collaboration while respecting the values ​​of civilization that must characterize cross-border coexistence. A new page is being written to address and resolve the uncertainties and ambiguities of the terrible legacy of the results of the Second World War"

"In addition to the impact of the border at home - adds Mayor Ziberna - the diktat of Paris has thrown thousands of refugees from Istria, Fiume and Dalmatia into the city. We are therefore planning for 2025 together with Prof. de Vergottini a series of initiatives that reconstruct the issue of the eastern Italian border from a European perspective through the Gorizia story. De Vergottini - underlines the mayor of Gorizia - is not only a distinguished academic of international fame, but also a representative of the generation that lived the Julian-Dalmatian exodus: in the historical phase in which testimony must be accompanied by institutional authority, FederEsuli could not have had a more adequate and prepared President. His involvement in the activities that will lead us to carry out 2025 as European Capital of Culture will be invaluable in demonstrating that Gorizia reconciles a deep-rooted sense of belonging to Italy with a propensity for Europe"

In the intentions of the mayor of the Isonzo capital and of the President of FederEsuli, being the European Capital of Culture 2025 will mean, in fact, for Gorizia not to hide anything of its identity, but rather to present to the attention of international public opinion a cross-section of history that must be in the public domain not only in Italy, but also at a community level.

Lorenzo Salimbeni