REMEMBRANCE – Italian president Mattarella hosts ceremony with survivors

Sami Modiano, Piero Terracina, Elisa Springer. The testimony of extermination camp survivors, broadcast on screens, opened the solemn Memorial Day ceremony at the Quirinale on January 28. Present were the highest authorities of the Italian state and, most importantly, the last living witnesses. Among them was Sami Modiano, the only survivor of the three people mentioned above. Also present were Liliana Segre, Edith Bruck, and sisters Tatiana and Andra Bucci. Gilberto Salmoni and Goti Bauer attended from Genoa and Milan.

Segre: Fight against indifference

Holocaust survivor and senator for life Liliana Segre, engaging with students during the event, repeatedly invoked the concept of indifference. “Indifference as we experienced in Milan, the city where I was born and raised, as we passed through on open trucks, kicked and punched, subjected to enormous violence by Germans and fascists,” Segre recounted, recalling the moments leading up to her deportation from San Vittore prison to the train station, where she and her father Alberto were sent to Auschwitz-Birkenau.

“In my personal dictionary, indifference is one of the first words,” Segre explained, reflecting on her efforts to ensure the word “indifference” stands prominently at the entrance to Milan’s Shoah Memorial. She also recalled the indifference of her schoolmates after racial laws were implemented in 1938: “Only three remained friends and kept inviting me.” Indifferent was also “the world around me” upon her return from Auschwitz. 

Despite her harrowing past, the senator has always identified as a woman of peace: “I was incredibly fortunate in my life. For 13 years, I received so much love from my family, who were later gassed at Auschwitz ‘for the crime of being born.’ That love was a fantastic shield.”

She delivered two appeals to young people: study and put away your phones; work for acceptance and inclusion.

Italian President Mattarella: Auschwitz, the result of racial laws

“Auschwitz always leaves you shaken,” said President Sergio Mattarella, who on Monday attended the ceremony alongside state leaders and Holocaust survivors to commemorate 80 years since the liberation of the extermination camp in Poland. According to Mattarella, “it was a historic moment of extraordinary importance, weaving together the past and the future, memory, and today’s responsibilities.” Auschwitz, he said, cannot be seen “as merely a memorial of a bygone era” but must be understood as the culmination of “centuries of prejudice, racism, antisemitism, fear of the other, rejection of dialogue, pseudoscientific theories.”

Auschwitz, he insisted, is “the direct consequence” of the racial laws enacted by regimes, including those passed “with ignominy” in Italy. And it is a warning against “the tragic indifference of those who think that such a past cannot return.”

This is an era of resurging antisemitism, Mattarella stressed, defining it “a growing plague we must reject with determination.”. He expressed concern over “the hostility toward other peoples, religions, cultures, and the persistent threats to Israel’s security.” 

Addressing the survivors with gratitude, Mattarella highlighted their role: “You have built a bridge to younger generations, passing on love and courage.” The stories of survivors, he added, are etched into the history of the Republic and have shaped the foundation of Italy’s Constitution.

Di Segni: New silences and absences weigh on the present

“Have we truly, as Jews, been liberated from antisemitism—even ideally? Do we truly, as Italians, live under the protective wing of freedom?” asked Noemi Di Segni, President of the Union of the Italian Jewish Communities (UCEI).

Following the attacks of October 7, Di Segni accused, “everything is labeled and pre-judged, extending accusations of crimes and genocidal intentions to all Jews, Jewish institutions and Israelis. We are essentially told, ‘You don’t belong because you’re a genocidal killer,’ or ‘You are today’s Nazis.’” These accusations come even from “high-ranking representatives and international organizations, echoing the appeals from Iran and its satanic allies.”

Although the language is no longer German, Di Segni warned that “the mechanisms of propaganda and deceit remain the same,” while absences and silences weigh as well. She highlighted the emotional toll on Italian Jews today: “We live suspended between belonging and exclusion, shaken by oblivion and distortion, yet hopeful in institutional contexts like today’s ceremony.”

Minister of Education Valditara: The Shoah as a tragedy of unique individuals

Giuseppe Valditara, Minister of Education and Merit, described the Holocaust as “a definitive, insurmountable, and unforgettable human tragedy.” The essence of memory, he said, lies in “the constant connection between generations.” “The resurgence of antisemitism today demands an urgent and appropriate response,” he also said, adding that “antisemitic slogans” and “justifications for the October 7 pogrom” are “intolerable.”

A tribute to Giulia Spizzichino

The ceremony began with a tribute to Giulia Spizzichino, a Roman Jewish woman whose testimony was pivotal in convicting Nazi war criminal Erich Priebke in Italy. Actress Elena Sofia Ricci, who portrays Spizzichino in an upcoming television adaptation of her autobiography, called her “a very courageous woman.”

Also honored were students who excelled in the annual competition “Youth Remember the Shoah,” promoted by the Ministry of Education and UCEI.