The screening in Brescia of the documentary on the story of Monsignor Santin becomes an opportunity to bring to light the scars of Italian history, the Julian-Dalmatian exodus and the tragedy of the foibe. In the auditorium of the oratory of the parish of Sant'Afra, the film «Antonio Santin – Defensor Civitatis» is screened, to whose production the Multimedia Documentation Center of Julian, Istrian, Rijeka and Dalmatian Culture also contributed, in the presence of the leaders of the National Association of Venezia Giulia and Dalmatia and Monsignor Ettore Malnati (former personal secretary of Santin).

"Monsignor Santin saved the city of Trieste and its port from the destruction that the Germans wanted to inflict on it," explains Renzo Codarin, president of the Venezia Giulia and Dalmazia association. "Our association aims to continue the story and has promoted this documentary to delve deeper into the very important figure of Monsignor Antonio Santin."

Monsignor Malnati knew and worked closely with Santin, so he shares some anecdotes that were told to him. "In 1943 there was no Nuncio in the territory of Gorizia, Udine and Trieste, so Monsignor Santin fulfilled that role," he says. "When the Titoites took Carlo Margotti, archbishop of Gorizia, tortured him and wanted to send him off to who knows where, Santin defended Margotti and explained the delicate situation directly to Pius XII. Santin's approach infuriated the Titoites who wanted to eliminate him. In 1947 they organized an attack in Capo d'Istria but the reprisal was avoided thanks to a tip-off from a partisan."

A film to tell the life of Santin and relive an indelible part of Italian history. «All of Santin's activity, his origins, his apostolate and his experience during the War emerge – says Donatella Schürzel, vice president of the association -. The Julian-Dalmatian exodus is a piece of Italian history. The quality of our present depends on the knowledge of the past»

[Brescia Today, 25/06/2023]

 

The event was part of a “two-day” event in Bergamo and Brescia, capital of culture, dedicated to the memory of Monsignor Santin as part of the project “BERGAMO AND BRESCIA, CITIES OF THE EXODUS WELCOMING. Places, stories, MEMORY and memories”.

It was also presented in Bergamo by Professor Donatella Schürzel (PhD History of Europe at Sapienza University and Master's professor at Unicusano), a very busy National Vice President and Vicar of the National Association of Venezia Giulia and Dalmatia, recently awarded the “Dignity of Julian-Dalmatians in the World” prize in Assisi. She illustrated the main parts of the documentary film, directed by Valeria Baldan and Giovanni Ziberna, which tells the story of the merciful figure of Monsignor Santin, bishop of Trieste and Capodistria from 1938 to 1975. In particular for the Istrians and the Julians, Santin – an exile among exiles – was a fundamental point of reference, a guarantee of understanding their problems and difficulties, a constant presence in support of the weakest. With the same passion he also defended the Jewish people after the promulgation of the fascist racial laws, openly siding against Mussolini. As Professor Schurzel explains in the film, Santin's relationship with his hometown of Rovinj was intense and constant, even when it was dramatically severed by the Yugoslav regime.

[National Association of Venezia Giulia and Dalmatia – 28/06/2023]