President Meloni’s statement on the 80th anniversary of the Vergarolla massacre

Today, Italy honours the memory of the compatriots who were killed on the beach of Vergarolla on 18 August 1946, in what was the gravest and bloodiest massacre in the history of the Italian Republic.

This massacre, forgotten for decades, has been returned to our collective memory thanks to the invaluable commitment of the Italian community in Pula, the exiles, their descendants and associations.

What happened eighty years ago on the beach in Pula remains a crime unpunished. Dozens and dozens of innocent civilians - men, women and children - were killed as part of a macabre plan, whilst attending a sporting event. The perpetrators were never ascertained, the instigators never identified and the motives never clarified. The search for the truth remains the best way to deliver full justice for the victims and uncover what we still do not know about this dark episode in 20th-century history.

What is certain is that the Vergarolla massacre was one of the most dramatic moments of that period of violence, playing a key role in the decision made by the majority of Italians to leave Pula and join the exodus.

From the deepest darkness of that massacre emerged the light of a hero: Geppino Micheletti, a doctor at Pula hospital who continued to operate on those injured and mutilated in the explosion, even after learning that his brother and sister-in-law and his own two children, aged 9 and 5, had also been killed. A shining example of humanity, courage and self-sacrifice, honoured by President Mattarella with the Gold Medal for Merit in Public Health.

It is also in his name, and in the name of all the victims of Vergarolla, that the Italian Government will continue its comprehensive commitment to safeguard and pass on the memory of the complex events involving Italy's eastern border. For too long, there was silence surrounding those terrible, painful pages of history, but today they belong to our national and European memory.

[Courtesy translation]