The President of the Senate of the Republic, Maria Elisabetta Alberti Casellati, spoke at Palazzo Madama at the celebration of the 'Day of Remembrance', in memory of the victims of the foibe, of the Julian-Dalmatian exodus, and of the events on the eastern border. 

Goodmorning everyone.
I greet the President of the Republic, the President of the Council of Ministers, the Vice President of the Chamber of Deputies, the Vice President of the Constitutional Court, the Ministers, the Members of Parliament and all the Authorities present.
I greet President De Vergottini, the representatives of the Associations of exiles and the school children who in this Chamber and at home participate in this important moment.

Today we celebrate the day dedicated to the victims of the foibe and to the memory of the Julian-Dalmatian exodus.
An event that, this year too, brings us together in the solemnity of Parliament, the heart of democracy, to reflect on one of the greatest tragedies of the twentieth century and to continue the common path against every form of oblivion, in the awareness that memory is the first stone on which to build an authentic path of peace and reconciliation.

I thank President Mattarella who with his presence today underlines the high symbolic and identity value of this day and confirms the commitment to place the recognition of historical truth as a premise for a culture of dialogue and friendship between people and cultures.
More than seventy years have passed since those tragic events. Decades marked by the laborious attempt to shed light on one of the most painful pages of our past.

Just two years ago, 814 bodies were recovered from the Jazovka sinkhole, while a Slovenian sinkhole revealed the remains of another 250 souls, likely destined to remain nameless.
There were not only soldiers in those holes: there were mostly women, including many nuns, many teenagers and several children.
There are many human stories that cannot be forgotten. Like that of Norma Cossetto: tortured, raped by 17 torturers and finally thrown naked into a sinkhole like waste.
Her martyrdom was the martyrdom of hundreds of innocent women who shared a horrible fate with her simply because they were Italian.
And then there was the exodus of almost 350.000 people; by any means, even makeshift, to save themselves from fear, uncertainty, the weight of oppression.

A debilitating diaspora, which lasted until the end of the 50s, which involved more than ninety percent of the Italian population of Istria, Julian and Dalmatia.
An entire population, with its history, its traditions, its culture, was forced to leave its land, which suddenly became foreign and hostile.
For those who chose to rebuild their lives in Italy, returning to their homeland was not easy.

The general misinformation about the causes of the exodus and the strong ideological polarization of that historical phase made the conditions of exile even more painful.
Ignorance about the true reasons for the exodus also hindered the most essential forms of human solidarity.
For years, mistrust, prejudice and injustice have marked the lives of families and entire generations of children forced to become adults in refugee camps and reception centers.

If today these stories of suffering have become an integral part of the collective conscience, it is thanks to the path that, step by step, has allowed us to bring the truth to light.
This is a result that we owe first and foremost to the important testimony of those who survived, their descendants and the associations that you represent.

Your commitment, driven not by resentment or rancor, but by the firm will to do justice to the memory of so many innocent women, men and children, has enabled us to transform personal and family memories into shared memories.
A memory on which to build new prospects for peace, solidarity and development. Thanks also to the advancement of the European integration process, the collapse of walls, regimes and totalitarianism, the affirmation on a global level of freedom, rights and shared values ​​and the increasingly solid relations of bilateral collaboration between Italy and the border countries.

As part of this journey, this day, like this ceremony, has a meaning that goes far beyond the emotion of the moment.
Celebrating the Day of Remembrance means, in fact, reflecting and meditating on a tragedy that has affected thousands and thousands of Italian families so that it may be a reason for unity.

The interpretation of history can also be open to different readings, but its reconstruction cannot become an object of division, especially when it forces our consciences to confront human suffering and dignity.
In this perspective, it is very important that the day of remembrance is also an opportunity to reward the school children who have distinguished themselves in the National Competition organized by the Ministry of Education. I thank Minister Bianchi for this initiative of great educational value, which allows our young people to discover and internalize the historical truth. And which, starting from the new generations, contributes to mending the fractures of the past by nourishing a more aware, more vigilant and freer collective conscience.

This is also the spirit that we want to renew today through institutional testimonies and the contribution of Federesuli, which I thank for the important work of awareness and dissemination that it continues to carry forward.
But also through music and literature which, with their suggestions, will allow us to transform the memory of the sacrifice of the victims and exiles from Istria, Fiume and Dalmatia into a path of commitment and hope beyond the walls and divisions.
Thank you.