Percorso:ANSA > Nuova Europa > News > Vergarolla massacre: 76th anniversary remembered today

Vergarolla massacre: 76th anniversary remembered today

Senator Rojc at the ceremony: it was among the deepest wounds

18 August, 16:39
(ANSA) - TRIESTE, 18 AGO - Today marks the 76th anniversary of the cruel Vergarolla massacre, which occurred on August 18, 1946, in the immediate and complex postwar period in Istria.

On that day, on a beach on the outskirts of the city of Pula, now in Croatia, packed for a swimming event, a massive amount of explosives detonated and killed dozens of innocent Italians, including many children.

On the anniversary, a ceremony of remembrance of the massacre took place in Pula, in the park on Kandler Street, in front of the memorial stone commemorating the dead.

The ceremony was followed by a Mass in Italian and then the laying of wreaths in the Vergarolla Victims' Park. This year's ceremony's new feature was a new plaque honoring Dr. Geppino Micheletti, as the previous one had been damaged several times.

"The last tampering - explained the deputy mayor of the City of Pula, Bruno Cergnul - happened some time ago, when a person unknown broke the glass covering the photo of Dr. Micheletti, the hero of Vergarolla, who tried to save many people from the massacre." The tragedy of Vergarolla "was grafted into the postwar climate that remained bloody in Istria. The consequences of the tragic fate of the eastern border and its martyred lands marked so many families with death and exodus: the Vergarolla massacre is one of the deepest and least known wounds in our history; that is why we must remember those innocent victims," said Italian Senator Tatjana Rojc (Pd), who attended the ceremony in Pula.

"It is a great achievement - Rojc added - to find ourselves in Pula to pray and honor the dead without distinction of language or history, united by pity and the will that all this horror will not occur again. However, let it be a warning to us because the war against Ukraine and its reflections in the Balkans tells us that we are not immune and must defend the true wealth of a united Europe, which is made up of peace, tolerance, and democracy." (ANSA).

© Copyright ANSA - All rights reserved