Venice – On the eve of the Day of Remembrance, Veneto Region President Alberto Stefani reflected on the legacy of the Foibe massacres and the exodus of Italians from Istria, Fiume and Dalmatia at the end of the Second World War.

“For more than twenty years, the Day of Remembrance has rescued from oblivion the tragedy of the Foibe and the suffering of the Julian-Dalmatian exodus,” Stefani said. “These are two unhealed wounds that we feel deeply, due to our geographical proximity, the shared Venetian language of many exiles, and a centuries-old history lived under the Lion of Saint Mark. Tens of thousands of refugees chose Veneto as their new home.”

He recalled 10 February as a date that entrusts the pursuit of historical truth to the power of memory, calling it the most effective way to understand the past and prevent its darkest chapters from repeating themselves.

Speaking on behalf of the people of Veneto, Stefani expressed his solidarity with the victims of ethnic violence and paid tribute to Norma Cossetto, the young Istrian woman who was tortured and killed by Yugoslav partisans and who had studied at the University of Padua. He also reaffirmed his support for the survivors of the exodus, who paid for their choice of freedom by abandoning their homes and possessions, often facing hostility rather than understanding.

“They are witnesses to a history that must be remembered not as a political act, but as an expression of shared conscience,” Stefani concluded, “one that rejects violence and oppression and refuses all systems that deny peaceful coexistence.”