(ANSA) - MARZABOTTO (BOLOGNA) - ''With deep sorrow and great shame I bow my head before the victims and their families''.

That is what Germany's foreign minister Heiko Maas said on Sunday while participating along with his Italian counterpart, Enzo Moavero Milanesi, in the 74th commemoration of the massacres committed in 1944.

''It is not an obvious choice for a German foreign minister to be here, where my fellow countrymen brought death'', he added. ''If populists preach nationalism - continued the head of German diplomacy - we will be working to build greater freedom, more respect, stronger Italian-German friendship''. The project of European unity, he added, ''looks like a courageous project today: Italy has played a key role, it must continue to play it now and also in the future''. Hatred and racism, Maas added, ''must never be allowed to prevail in our society''. ''I am deeply grateful to Italians, we want to work together with you every day to preserve this common heritage, peace, trust and partnership'', he underlined.