Sami Modiano, Piero Terracina, Elisa Springer.\u00a0The 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Segre: Fight against indifference<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Holocaust survivor and senator for life Liliana Segre, engaging with students during the event, repeatedly invoked the concept of indifference. \u201cIndifference 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,\u201d 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIn my personal dictionary, indifference is one of the first words,\u201d Segre explained, reflecting on her efforts to ensure the word \u201cindifference\u201d stands prominently at the entrance to Milan\u2019s Shoah Memorial. She also recalled the indifference of her schoolmates after racial laws were implemented in 1938: \u201cOnly three remained friends and kept inviting me.\u201d Indifferent was also \u201cthe world around me\u201d upon her return from Auschwitz. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Despite her harrowing past, the senator has always identified as a woman of peace: \u201cI was incredibly fortunate in my life. For 13 years, I received so much love from my family, who were later gassed at Auschwitz \u2018for the crime of being born.\u2019 That love was a fantastic shield.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n She delivered two appeals to young people: study and put away your phones; work for acceptance and inclusion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Italian President Mattarella: Auschwitz, the result of racial laws<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAuschwitz always leaves you shaken,\u201d 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.<\/strong> According to Mattarella, \u201cit was a historic moment of extraordinary importance, weaving together the past and the future, memory, and today\u2019s responsibilities.\u201d Auschwitz, he said, cannot be seen \u201cas merely a memorial of a bygone era\u201d but must be understood as the culmination of \u201ccenturies of prejudice, racism, antisemitism, fear of the other, rejection of dialogue, pseudoscientific theories.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Auschwitz, he insisted, is \u201cthe direct consequence\u201d of the racial laws enacted by regimes, including those passed \u201cwith ignominy\u201d in Italy. And it is a warning against \u201cthe tragic indifference of those who think that such a past cannot return.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is an era of resurging antisemitism, Mattarella stressed, defining it \u201ca growing plague we must reject with determination.\u201d. He expressed concern over \u201cthe hostility toward other peoples, religions, cultures, and the persistent threats to Israel\u2019s security.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Addressing the survivors with gratitude, Mattarella highlighted their role: \u201cYou have built a bridge to younger generations, passing on love and courage.\u201d The stories of survivors, he added, are etched into the history of the Republic and have shaped the foundation of Italy\u2019s Constitution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Di Segni: New silences and absences weigh on the present<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHave we truly, as Jews, been liberated from antisemitism\u2014even ideally? Do we truly, as Italians, live under the protective wing of freedom?\u201d asked Noemi Di Segni, President of the Union of the Italian Jewish Communities (UCEI).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Following the attacks of October 7, Di Segni accused, \u201ceverything is labeled and pre-judged, extending accusations of crimes and genocidal intentions to all Jews, Jewish institutions and Israelis. We are essentially told, \u2018You don\u2019t belong because you\u2019re a genocidal killer,\u2019 or \u2018You are today\u2019s Nazis.\u2019\u201d These accusations come even from \u201chigh-ranking representatives and international organizations, echoing the appeals from Iran and its satanic allies.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Although the language is no longer German, Di Segni warned that \u201cthe mechanisms of propaganda and deceit remain the same,\u201d while absences and silences weigh as well. She highlighted the emotional toll on Italian Jews today: \u201cWe live suspended between belonging and exclusion, shaken by oblivion and distortion, yet hopeful in institutional contexts like today\u2019s ceremony.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Minister of Education Valditara: The Shoah as a tragedy of unique individuals<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Giuseppe Valditara, Minister of Education and Merit, described the Holocaust as \u201ca definitive, insurmountable, and unforgettable human tragedy.\u201d The essence of memory, he said, lies in \u201cthe constant connection between generations.\u201d \u201cThe resurgence of antisemitism today demands an urgent and appropriate response,\u201d he also said, adding that \u201cantisemitic slogans\u201d and \u201cjustifications for the October 7 pogrom\u201d are \u201cintolerable.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n A tribute to Giulia Spizzichino<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n 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 \u201ca very courageous woman.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Also honored were students who excelled in the annual competition \u201cYouth Remember the Shoah,\u201d promoted by the Ministry of Education and UCEI. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Senator Liliana Segre: “Young people, less\u00a0 smartphone and more books”
\nDi Segni: \u201cToday we live suspended”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4297,"featured_media":10425,"menu_order":990,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7602],"tags":[],"position":[],"class_list":["post-10412","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-senza-categoria"],"yoast_head":"\n