National Memorial Day of the Exiles and Foibe facts for kids

The National Memorial Day of the Exiles and Foibe (called "Giorno del Ricordo" in Italian) is a special day in Italy. It remembers the people who suffered during the massacres of Foibe and those who were forced to leave their homes in Dalmatia, Istria, and "Venezia Giulia" after World War II. This day honors the victims of these difficult events, which included ethnic cleansing.

Why We Remember: The Official View

Italy's former president, Giorgio Napolitano, spoke about this day in 2007. He explained that in 1943, a wave of violence hit these lands. It was a mix of quick, unfair justice, strong nationalism, social revenge, and a plan to remove Italians from the area.

President Napolitano said that this time involved "hate and bloodthirsty fury." He also mentioned a plan by Slavic groups to take over the land, which became clear in the 1947 peace treaty. This plan led to what he called "ethnic cleansing." He stated that the "inhuman ferocity of the foibe" was "one of the barbarities of the past century."

...Already in the unleashing of the first wave of blind and extreme violence in those lands, in the autumn of 1943, summary and tumultuous justicialism, nationalist paroxysm, social retaliation and a plan to eradicate Italian presence intertwined in what was, and ceased to be, the Julian March.

There was therefore a movement of hate and bloodthirsty fury, and a Slavic annexationist design, which prevailed above all in the peace treaty of 1947, and assumed the sinister shape of "ethnic cleansing".

What we can say for sure is that what was consumed - in the most evident way trough the inhuman ferocity of the foibe - was one of the barbarities of the past century.

—Italian president Giorgio Napolitano, Rome, 10 February 2007

How the Memorial Day Started

This special day was created after communist governments in Balkan countries ended. This allowed people to talk openly about the past actions of old politicians. The "Giorno del Ricordo" was officially made a holiday in 2004. The first time it was celebrated was in 2005.

Related Pages

• Dalmatian Italians
• Italian cultural and historic presence in Dalmatia
• Venice and Dalmatia
• Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia

Images for kids

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  The President of the Italian Republic Giorgio Napolitano during his speech for the National Memorial Day of the Exiles and Foibe in 2007

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  Concert at the Quirinal Palace in the presence of the President of the Italian Republic Sergio Mattarella on the occasion of the National Memorial Day of the Exiles and Foibe in 2015

See also

In Spanish: Día del Recuerdo (Italia) para niños