AL.MIN.
UMBERTIDE (Perugia) – Stop any type of conflict and do maximum work to build peace in every part of the world.
This is the warning launched by the President of the Region, Donatella Tesei, who celebrated April 25th in Umbertide, where in addition to the celebration of Italy’s liberation from Nazi-fascism, the 80th anniversary of the Allied bombing of Borgo San Giovanni was also commemorated, due to which 74 people lost their lives. «Liberation Day is celebrated in every municipality in Umbria, from the capital cities to the smallest towns – stated the governor from the stage together with the mayor Luca Carizia – I wanted to choose Umbertide because here we commemorate, together with the Liberation, a very important anniversary not only for this community but for the whole of Umbria.” The Allied bombing of 25 April 1944, Tesei continued, killed «many people, destroyed many families and this square. My presence here is to share with all of you the history, the pain of those moments, the liberation of our nation.” Finally, from the president, the invitation to “look to the future together, all united, so that we say no to all wars and that we all work for universal peace”.
In his speech, Mayor Carizia recalled that «for us Umberto residents, April 25th always has a double meaning. The tragedy, death, destruction and suffering in 1944, one year after the joy, rebirth and liberation from Nazi-fascist barbarism.” My thoughts then went «to our 74 dead, among whom there were several children. Unfortunately, war is death and destruction that even today we are experiencing daily in many parts of the world, even close to us. All of us, every day, must make the effort to talk about peace and respect other people’s ideas. We must let words speak and not weapons.” 25 April 1945, concluded Carizia, was «a very important day, which led us a few years later to affirm the republican and democratic Italy that represents all of us, allowing us to be together with a sense of community, solidarity and union for face the challenges of the future”.
A few moments before the start of the president’s speech, the local section of the National Association of Italian Partisans left the square chanting “Bella ciao” to protest against the decision not to have one of its representatives speak during the official ceremonies. «From 1945 to 2018 – we read in a note from the association – the Anpi participated in the institutional celebrations in our Municipality, expressing its support for the old and new resistance. Unfortunately, this year too, as has happened in the last 5 years, we were not given the opportunity to speak from the stage together with the other institutions. We therefore ask the city government to recognize the Anpi’s role as an anti-fascist institution, promoter of memory and democracy, giving us back a space to speak on the stage of the Liberation Day from the Nazi-fascist yoke”.
