Italy Marks the Giorno del Ricordo

As Italy commemorates the victims of the Foibe mass killings in Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Istria, and Dalmatia by Tito’s partisans, the nation reflects on a dark chapter in its history.

The atrocities were committed mainly against the local ethnic Italian population by Yugoslav communists who occupied the Istrian peninsula during the last two years of World War II.

Foibe Massacres

Italy’s President Sergio Mattarella hosted a commemorative event in Rome to remember the victims of the Foibe killings which occurred in 1943 and again in the weeks before and after the end of the war in 1945.

The exact number of victims remains unknown, but estimates suggest that up to 15,000 individuals were killed, many of whom were tortured, shot, or pushed into deep sinkholes known as foibe.

The Giorno del Ricordo not only commemorates the victims of the ethnic cleansing but also honors the Italians who were forced to leave their homes in Dalmatia and Istria in the years following 1943.

President Mattarella’s Words

During the commemorative event, President Mattarella condemned the “ruthless violence” inflicted upon Italians by Tito’s partisans, emphasizing the importance of reconciliation and the remembrance of the exiles’ tragic plight.

Political Contention

The annual commemoration of the Giorno del Ricordo has been a source of political contention in Italy, with the right-wing seeking to draw comparisons between the Foibe massacres and the Holocaust.

In a video message, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni stressed the importance of remembering the painful history, stating that “Italy does not forget.”

Recent Vandalism

This year’s commemoration was marred by vandalism at the Foibe memorial in Basovizza, near Trieste, where graffiti in Slavic languages and Italian defaced the sacred site.

The Italian government strongly condemned the act, with Meloni describing it as “an act of unprecedented gravity that cannot go unpunished.”