“Home is where the heart is,” wrote Franco Papetti, president of the Association of Italian Fiumani in the World, quoting the writer and scientist Gaius Plinius Secundus, known as Pliny the Elder, a phrase that has continued to make us reflect for two thousand years.

What does it mean for you today, Mr. President?
“It conveys a simple and engaging concept, that is, that home is not just a physical place made of bricks, walls and a roof, but also a mixture of emotions and impulses that sink into our deepest being, the place where we feel safe, where we find our ideal dimension, where we have created an environment to which we are emotionally attached, a feeling, or rather a set of feelings that never die. We, Fiume exiles, like all men united by this destiny, even though we live elsewhere, feel at home only in the city of origin, which is the physical city, but above all that of the soul that we care for and chase throughout our lives”.

His is a personal return, but also an institutional one, as in this case, it takes place in the name of the Patron Saint of Fiume…
“San Vito has always been an important day since we returned to rekindle this great and indissoluble bond. The first return to Fiume dates back to 1991, after years of discomfort due to the Cold War, to the imposed divisions, with a solemn celebration in Italian in the Cathedral of San Vito where Oscarre Fabietti was able to address the exiled Fiume people present and the Fiume people who remained with a speech of reconciliation, which received unanimous approval and emotion and then with the world meeting 'Sempre Fiumani' which took place from 14 to 16 June 2013, where the exiles met, coming from all over the world, in an unforgettable collective celebration with the participation of even the Fanfara dei Bersaglieri; until then we had participated in San Vito and in the events of the city and the Community in various ways, but that time it did not happen as guests, but for the first time as co-organizers together with the Italian Community and in collaboration with the City of Rijeka”.

Once the ice was broken, it was a natural process to continue. This year, some new things have been introduced, what are they?
“We will pray together during the Holy Mass in Italian in our Cathedral of San Vito, with the Coro Fedeli fiumani and the viola of Francesco Squarcia; we will be together in the extraordinary Festival of Fiumane Songs, in which musicians from all over the area participated with popular tunes, but above all exalting our 'Fiuman dialect'. After the success of 2023, we will repeat the trip out of town with a destination of great interest: Calva Island and San Gregorio Island, two prison and internment camps that weigh like a millstone on the history of the Second World War and the post-war period. Calva Island became hell for many men, after 1948 and the Cominform, guilty of believing in Stalin's communism or not believing in Tito's Yugoslavia. We will be accompanied by guides who know the story well, with whom we will then also meet at Palazzo Modello for the presentation of the books, the concerts, the awarding of prizes to the kids, the theatrical performance. The presentation of the books will be accompanied by a tasting of quality wines proposed by a series of Italian producers and offered by the magazine Eccellenza with its editor Giorgio Siderini. This issue of 'La Voce di Fiume' comes out with a supplement on traditional cuisine, tastes and flavours. Well, on Saturday, June 15, after the Mass, at the Community coffee and croissants for everyone for the traditional 'Italian breakfast'. The theme will be introduced by a coffee roaster from Treviso, originally from Fiume, always curated by the magazine Eccellenza that will make his name known only during the meeting”.

Once the curtain falls on San Vito, a delegation will leave for Zagreb. For what purpose?
“To present our project on Rijeka Literature. Let me explain: in 2020, before the terrible pandemic, we started a project that aimed to strengthen our cultural and intellectual return to Rijeka. To achieve this goal, we planned a four-year plan based on the publication or reprint of works by great Rijeka writers, presenting them in a box set in both the Italian and Croatian versions and delving into their lives and works in important international conferences with authoritative speakers; the City of Rijeka, in addition to giving us its patronage, made the Council Chamber available to us with great media coverage. The following authors were presented: 2021, Enrico Morovich “An Italian from Rijeka”; 2022, Paolo Santarcangeli “In Babylonian Captivity”; 2023, Franco Vegliani “The Frontier”. We presented them in Rome, at a press conference at the Chamber of Deputies thanks to the commitment of the Hon. Simone Billi and in Trieste in January of this year as part of the debate 'Never again borders' that started right from Palazzo Modello when Croatia entered the Schengen Area. This year, on the occasion of All Saints' Day, that is, on November 1st, we will present the greatest Rijeka writer of the Italian minority that remained in Rijeka, Osvaldo Ramous, with several of his stories still unpublished both in Italian and Croatian thanks to the generosity of Gianna Mazzieri Sanković, curator of Ramous's work. They are not just books, they are the image of our culture, the sound of our community voice that speaks for all of us. Four authors who have passed away, but are more relevant than ever, people pass away, culture remains. Our hope is the young people to whom we must give valid tools so that they become their banner in life, in society”.

Are the two scholarships dedicated to Ratzenberger and Brazzoduro going in this direction?
“Exactly, but not only that. It is an idea that is creating a furrow, the universities involved, of Fiume (where the kids come from) and Perugia (where the participants will attend the summer courses) will soon make known a path of collaboration of great value to which we will dedicate time, effort and means”.

And for the little ones?
“There are several competitions that they engage in throughout the year regarding cinema and writing, created together with the ANVGD of Verona, the Società di Studi Fiumani and, of course, with the involvement of teachers and students. Their success gratifies us, year after year”.

The divisions overcome between the associations of exiles and the places of origin, are unable to produce common projects between the various representations of the diaspora world. Why?
“It is a historical legacy, the very reason why they were born. Some have accepted a coordination of FederEsuli, others have not joined or have left. A few years ago it was thought that more time would be needed, people are slowly disappearing and by the time they want to move forward, associationism will be just a memory. It depends on us, on the acceleration that we are able to start. Lucio Toth said that we will have returned home when the population that lives in these lands today also makes our culture their own. It is up to us to provide the tools and we are working on it, often quietly, without a single project that consolidates its contours. Sometimes I feel helpless, even dejected, but I do not give up, the motto that supports us is 'let's move forward'. In Zagreb we will be welcomed by the director of the Italian Cultural Institute, the president of Unione Italiana will accompany us, we will meet the Italian ambassador in Zagreb and I know that we will move convinced that we must reach many other goals, it would be nice to do it together... we will see”.

And in Italy?
"The brick also has its extraordinary function, to remember some historical strong points, I would say the IRCI or the Historical Archive Museum of Rome. In Padua we Fiume have a headquarters in the historical center that we are transforming into a conference room and annexed library, to host students and scholars who will have books and documents both paper and filmed. We plan to inaugurate this new reality within the year with an important program of meetings".

After San Vito we will focus on the November rally which will be electoral. Will you do it in Fiume?
“Absolutely, our Gatherings are exclusively in Fiume. We will elect the official bodies and the president. But immediately afterwards, on November 7, we will leave for Pisa where we will remember the twenty-five priests who joined Monsignor Camozzo immediately after the Second World War and who spread 'fiumanità' wherever they worked. A fascinating journey that will see us together with a famous theologian like Don Severino Dianich, to whom we owe all our gratitude”.

Interview by Rosanna Turcinovich Giuricin a Frank Papetti
Source: The Voice of the People – 08/06/2024