«Celebrating April 25th is not just about liturgy, but it means honoring the commitment of the women and men who sacrificed their lives to free Italy from Nazi-fascist oppression. This is the celebration of all of us. The celebration of those who recognize themselves in the values of the Republic and democracy. The celebration of united, free and anti-fascist Italy. Let us always celebrate it, every day, in our homes, in schools and in associations: let us remember the suffering that the mothers and fathers, grandmothers and grandfathers of all of us have endured to give light to the country in which we live today. We cannot afford to forget all this. Not now nor ever».
So does the mayor Francesco Paolo Ricciduring the traditional procession of April 25th, which started from Palazzo Gentile and headed to Villa Comunale, to the commemorative stone bearing the words of the Florentine partisan Irma Marchianinom de guerre Anty, to her sister, shortly before being shot in Bologna by the Germans, on 26 November 1944: «Soon I will no longer be, I die sure of having done everything possible for freedom to triumph».
An accompanied procession which ended with the planting of the “Tree of Memory”.
As per tradition, the city section of theNational Association of Partisans of Italy, promoter every year of the celebrations of the anniversary of the liberation from Nazi-fascism.
«Today more than ever there is a need, at all levels, to pursue a strong and constant collaboration between citizens, institutions, democratic and anti-fascist realities present in the territories, to rebuild social ties through growing participation. Today is the date on which the liberation of the country from the tyranny of fascism is brought to vivid memory, but it is also the renewal of values and ideals of democracy and freedom, for which the partisans fought and gave their lives» the words of Antonella De Napolipresident of the Anpi “Carla Nespolo” club, who recalled how today we are still afflicted by «pain of a war that is making the heart of Europe bleed and which adds to the numerous conflicts present in every part of the world and the genocide of the Palestinian people».
For De Napoli, therefore, today more than ever, it is necessary to reiterate the importance of the values of freedom and equality, democracy and independence and to reclaim those fundamental principles recalled by our Constitution which today must be expressed first and foremost in the centrality of dignity of the person, of work, in justice and social solidarity, in the right to health, in equal opportunities, in respect of the environment as an integral part of our daily life, in the repudiation
of war, the repudiation of all war engraved in article 11 of the Constitution: «This was the precious gift for which we must always thank that extraordinary collective movement, made up of the partisans who, together with many other free men, became the constituents of one of the most beautiful constitutions in Europe, ours. Nothing to do with the differentiated autonomy of the Regions and the Premiership that loom over our country today».
Finally, addressing the many young people present, he concluded: «If we really want to give meaning to the Liberation and celebrate it in its profound meaning, let us remember to never be indifferent, to never look the other way, to always be partisans, even today, always choosing to be on the right side, that of democracy and freedom, just as the women and men of the Resistance did, fighting everywhere the barbarity of injustice and fascism, in the various forms in which it manifests itself today. The time we live in has taught us that the constitutional freedoms with which we are used to living and the rights we enjoy must never be taken for granted, these are values that we must defend every day, safeguard and pass on to the new generations, together with duties to be exercised on a daily basis, and the world of school has a fundamental role in this. This is what April 25th taught us and teaches us. And we will never tire of remembering it».
: “Never be indifferent”){kind=link}