Centennials

By David Bidussa

The centennial of Fiume (editor’s note: currently Rijeka in Croatian) has been archived with a statue honoring its commander. A different centenary is looming on the horizon. The centennial, which we will search in vain in the history textbooks of our schools, is the burning of the Narodni Dom in Trieste, which happened on July 13, 1920, and marked the first act of discrimination and “ethnic cleansing” associated with the idea of “Italians first”. I don’t think it would be a good idea to make a statue of the man who led the assault to set fire to that building.