"Today is Memorial Day, I greet with affection and warmth representatives of associations of exiles from Istria, Fiume, and Dalmatia Giuliani who wanted to be at this event. I greet them along with actor and writer Paul Luca Violins Logli, author of the play that will soon be represented. After the adoption in 2004 of the Act which established this event 'in order to preserve and renew the memory of the tragedy of the Italians', this is the first time held in the Chamber of Deputies an event dedicated to the commemoration of the painful events of the sinkholes and exodus. My first wish, after five years from the Day of Remembrance, is that the meaning of this day is consolidated in the common perception of Italians, particularly among young people. " He said the House speaker, Gianfranco Fini, speaking to the House in day of remembrance of victims of Foibe. "Not surprisingly, the bill is to encourage the promotion of initiatives by institutions and agencies, to preserve the memory of those tragic events in deepening the meaning of national identity."
"That an overwhelming majority vote in parliament was the culmination of a long and painful conquest of civil awareness. Awareness that a democratic country should never have fear of illuminating every corner of its history. For too long the ugly chapter of the sinkholes was withheld from the Italians. At the expense was the completeness of the historical narrative of the war and immediate postwar period. At the expense directly on their skin were exiles. It is a painful fact that we can not forget, if we want to celebrate this day in the fullness and completeness of its meanings. We can not forget that these brothers lived a double tragedy: that it was forced to abandon their homes and one, which occurred soon after, it was greeted with indifference and, in many cases, with hostility from the Italy itself, from which he had hoped to receive a hug of solidarity. Many exiles lived a long time - up to ten years - in over one hundred camps dotted around the peninsula. Then they lived in very difficult living conditions, in total and absolute emergency temporary. "
Those over three hundred thousand Italians were treated in many cases as inconvenient witnesses. For some witnessed the tyranny of the totalitarian Communist regime of Tito. For others remembered the tragedy of the military defeat of fascism desired. On several occasions we witnessed the emergence of feelings of petty selfishness that despite the difficult conditions of war could not justify in any way. So for example are written in the memories of an exile, 'Do not even emerged from the refugee camp in Marina di Carrara because they despised, they said that we had gone there to eat their bread'. It is not my intention to enter into this circumstance in the complex historical issues related to the postwar period, especially in terms of the difficult conditions faced by Italy, which had newly won freedom, it was found to take its first steps in international forums and in framework of the then incipient Cold War. But I would reiterate the concept, widely prevalent in the civil conscience of our time, that there are no political demands to justify the concealment of the truth history and the continued marginalization of hundreds of thousands of people guilty only of having a very specific identity. "
"The Day of Remembrance - added Fini - then presents the meaning of a found and shared memory. Find a chapter of the common past. Sharing the effort to analyze and interpret. 'Shared memory', wrote the historian Gianni Oliva, 'means to explore the contradictions and responsibilities, because of what happened, it means to trace the past without the excuse of silence and hypocrisy of removal'. Recall the horrific chapter of sinkholes is a duty that applies not only to our conscience Italians, but also to our sense of Europe, said the head of state very well this morning. Why the massacres of 1943 and its aftermath, committed against thousands of defenseless and innocent on the eastern border of Italy, was a crime against humanity. I believe that the reconstruction of those pages and horror of death may be a service to the larger and more mature awareness to promote and defend the values \u200b\u200bof respect and brotherhood among peoples that are the basis of today's Europe. The recognition of historical truth rigorous analysis of that terrible experience enable us to identify the perverse mechanisms that lead to the cancellation of human rights and ethnic cleansing. "
"The tragedy of the sinkholes are the mechanisms of communist ideology and those of aggressive pan-Slav nationalism. It is up to historians to determine what was, if there was a predominant component. Is where it came to class hatred, and in those in which ethnic hatred was, and when it was both, in all cases turned out to be criminals feelings. Feelings are covered and entitled to atrocious ideas and cultural aberrations. The century of murderous ideas, to quote Robert Conquest, is thankfully behind us. But that is a thing of the past is necessary to fulfill the duty of remembrance. The clear memory, clear the memory, the full memory, the memory without shadows, and manipulation misgivings. Even for this appears in all its injustice long removal of that tragedy. For this we must strive to save the memory of the suffering of many of our compatriots in the spirit of reconciliation that can only be based on truth. I would like to dedicate a final thought to the feeling of exile, that many of our compatriots still carry in my heart. In the poetry of a woman, Anna Vukusa, these words are strong and moving: 'My heart's exile is a white shell to hear the sea that no longer belongs to me'. "
"There is no consolation can to fill the void that opens the soul when one is forced to flee their homes and land. As written by Enzo Bettiza, even when the exile can start a new life, a family, children, he does not escape, can never completely escape the 'mark of the initial trauma'. We can not cure this invincible melancholy. But we can strive to make it fully as our national community. This is also shared memory. It is a poignant reminder of the share. And knowing it to turn into common memory. In deference to the sentiment of the Italian identity. But most of all in the name of a universal brotherhood. "
