Italian president Sergio
Mattarella on Friday spoke in memory of the Foibe massacres.
February 10 is the 'National Memorial Day of the Exiles and
Foibe'.
The 'foibe' refers to mass killings mainly in Friuli-Venezia
Giulia , Istria and Dalmatia during and after World War II
against the local Italian population.
As many as 15,000 Italians were tortured or killed by
Yugoslav communists who occupied the Istrian peninsula during
the last two years of the war.
Many of the victims were thrown into the narrow mountain
gorges during anti-Fascist uprisings in the area and the exact
number of victims of these atrocities is unknown, in part
because Tito's forces destroyed local population records to
cover up their crimes.
"The Europe of peace, democracy, freedom and respect for
cultural identities was the response to the horrors of the
twentieth century, which the 'foibe' were" part of, he said in a
message read at the Chamber of Deputies.
He went on to say that this was a "commitment that, 70 years
after the peace treaty that put an end to the tragic war sparked
by Nazi-Fascism, must remain to knock down fanaticism forever,
the father of barbaric acts and cruelty fed by hatred."
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © Copyright ANSA
