The course for school teachers promoted by the Tuscany Region and organised by the Tuscan Historical Institute of the Resistance and the Contemporary Age – the Grosseto Historical Institute of the Resistance and the Contemporary Age – the National Institute for the History of Liberation Movements in Italy took place in Siena on Tuesday 21 November 2017 at the University for Foreigners.

"The seminar will offer further, targeted thematic exploration of the history and events of the Julian-Dalmatian exiles," stated the day's coordinator, Dr. Matteo Mazzoni of the Tuscan Historical Institute of the Resistance, at the opening.

This session was attended by FederEsuli President Dr. Antonio Ballarin and the Society of Fiumani Studies with Dr. Marino Micich. At FederEsuli's suggestion, Professor Maria Pappalardo gave a detailed report on school textbooks and the 1947 Paris Peace Treaty.

The seminar for teachers, titled " For the History of a Difficult Border: The Northern Adriatic in the Twentieth Century, " was held with a large participation of over thirty teachers and a large audience of sixty people. This seminar follows the summer school held in Rispescia (GR) between August 22 and 25, 2017.

After greetings from Tuscany Region Vice President Monica Barni and Milva Segato of the Regional School Office for Tuscany, the day's seminar began. FederEsuli President Dr. Antonio Ballarin 's greeting was more detailed than expected, briefly explaining the new prospects for Julian-Dalmatian exiles to the audience and then thanking the organizers for inviting him. This confirmed the Tuscan Resistance Historical Institutes' willingness to collaborate with the cultural world of Julian-Dalmatian exiles. This collaboration also includes the participation of the Società di Studi Fiumani, with Dr. Marino Micich. FederEsuli will also offer future presentations by Prof. Giuseppe De Vergottini (President of Coordinamento Adriatico) and Prof. Giovanni Stelli , President of the Società di Studi Fiumani, who has worked in this direction with the Institute for the History of the Umbrian Resistance with encouraging results.

THE PRESENTATIONS : The presentations were preceded by a moving testimony from Claudio Bronzin , an exile from Pola and a survivor of the Vergarolla tragedy. As scheduled, the presentations were presented to the lecturers with the aid of computer aids. Enrico Miletto of the University of Turin, a collaborator of the Istoreto, gave a very well-expressed presentation on the Julian-Dalmatian Exodus. This was followed by a presentation by Marino Micich (who had previously been invited to participate in the summer course, but was unable to attend due to prior commitments). Micich focused on the origins and development of the Julian-Dalmatian Exodus associations. These associations, founded even during the Second World War (after September 8, 1943), successfully organized the exiles over time to defend their denied rights and to disseminate their two-thousand-year-old culture linked to Italy. This was followed by a presentation by Professor Stella Pappalardo on the issue of textbooks and the historical events of the Julian region, which have long been missing from history curricula; a presentation based on data taken from a book by Professor Maria Ballarin . The Bosnian case was then discussed with Dr. Simone Malvolti (Associazione passaggi di Storia), to raise awareness of a situation full of unknowns in a territory that looms large.

indirectly on the Dalmatian region. After Dr. Mazzoni 's conclusions, the first part of the seminar concluded.

The second part of the conference was dedicated to the places that tell the story of the border dramas in Venezia Giulia, with a presentation by Professor Luciana Rocchi , who has been committed for years to reconstructing the complex historical events of the eastern border with a broadly inclusive approach, shared by both the speakers and the audience. The teachers' trip with students, Rocchi announced, will take place in February and will visit Trieste (the program is still provisional: the Basovizza Foiba, the Padriciano CRP, the San Sabba Rice Mill, followed by a visit to a town in Istria and finally to Rijeka, where they will visit the Italian High School and the Italian Community in the beautiful Palazzo Modello). Dr. Luca Bravi of the University of Florence spoke about the importance of testimonies in building memory, a key aspect that must always be kept in mind for better communication and teaching. In this specific case, a fascinating interview with Dr. Livio Dorigo , President of the "Istria" Circle, was screened . The Seminar concluded with a detailed debate between the teachers and the remaining speakers on some of the topics covered (the role of the Yugoslav and Italian Communist Parties in the long-silenced exodus of Italians, the responsibilities for the war fought by Italy alongside the Nazis and its actions towards the Slavic populations, the silence on the Istrian exodus), underlining the methodological aspects necessary to convey the various information to the students, with the substantial aim of making them aware of the difficult past marked by wars in Europe in the first half of the 900th century and to reaffirm the values ​​of peace.

Press release from the Society of Fiuman Studies