State officials commemorate Slovenian victims of fascism

Addressing a commemoration in Basovizza on Thursday, Lotrič said that the courageous members of the anti-fascist group TIGR understood very well the danger of totalitarianism at a time when the rest of Europe was not yet seriously aware of the threat it posed, the National Council said in a press release.

They stood up against assimilation and the violence of fascism, but were target of repression, he said, stressing that the victims of Basovizza had become a symbol of resistance against the oppression of the time and the unrelenting desire to preserve the Slovenian minority.

The Slovenian delegation also honoured the memorial to the Basovizza heroes and the grave of Boris Pahor, the leading author of the Slovenian ethnic community in Italy, and one of the few Slovenian authors in Italy who remained active after the Second World War.

The Slovenian and Italian national anthems were then played in the courtyard of the former concentration camp Risiera di San Sabba in Trieste, the Slovenian newspaper Primorski Dnevnik reported.

Lotrič said the Risiera was an important place of remembrance and a reminder of a tragic chapter in history, which is also a symbol of hope and resistance. "Places like the Risiera remind us that peace, democracy and coexistence are not a given. Today, we are witnessing violence again, which shows how fragile peace is and how important it is to remain attentive to the lessons of history," he added.

Vrečko stressed that the message of all the internees to humanity was that they must be the last. "But today, we are living in a time of war again. We have war in Europe, in Ukraine. And genocide is happening in Gaza," she said, adding that everything must be done to put an end to these massacres, the Culture Ministry said in a press release.