Minister lays wreaths in Basovizza, Trieste
Basovizza/Trieste, 26 October - Minister for Slovenians Abroad Matej Arčon laid wreaths ahead of All Saints Day on Thursday at the monument of the four Slovenian victims of Fascism from Trieste, Italy, known as the Basovizza heroes, and to the victims of Risiera di San Sabba in Trieste, one of the most infamous Nazi camps.
Ljubljana
Minister for Slovenians Abroad Matej Arčon.
Photo: Bor Slana/STA
File photo
He stressed that memory was precious and that from the "pain of the past wisdom of the future is born", the Office for Slovenians Abroad said in a press release.
In Basovizza, Arčon laid a wreath to the monument to the Basovizza heroes and one at the local cemetery.
At a commemorating ceremony in Trieste he paid tribute to the victims of Risiera di San Sabba, a concentration camp for political prisoners, and a transit camp for Jews, most of whom were then deported to Auschwitz.
He also laid a laurel wreath at the memorial plaque honouring Slovenians who died at the Risiera.
In his address, Arčon stressed that memory was precious even when it hurts. It is always shocking to read letters from prisons, concentration camps, fronts and exile, but apart from great suffering and sorrow they also contain light, he said.
Europeans have the duty to believe in Europe, democracy and humanism and do their best to plant the seed of resistance against Nazism and Fascism into future generations, the office said.