The president of the Republic Sergio Mattarella kicked off the celebrations on April 25th at the Altare della Patria in Rome, before moving to Civitella Val di Chiana, in the province of Arezzo.
After the performance of the Italian anthem the Head of State paid homage to all the fallen with the laying of a laurel wreath. At his side also the Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, the Presidents of the Chamber and Senate Lorenzo Fontana and Ignazio La Russa, the President of the Constitutional Court Augusto Barbera and the Minister of Defense Guido Crosetto,
The others present
Also present were the Chiefs of Defense Staff, Admiral Giuseppe Cavo Dragone; the Chief of Staff of the Army, Army Corps General Carmine Masiello, the Chief of Staff of the Navy, Squadron Admiral, Enrico Credendino, the Chief of Staff of the Air Force, General of the Air Squadron Luca Goretti, the general of the Carabinieri Army Corps Teo Luzi, general of the Guardia di Finanza Army Corps, Andrea De Gennaro.
Mattarella in Civitella Val di Chiana to remember the Nazi massacre
Mattarella then left Rome to move to Civitella Val di Chiana (Arezzo) to remember the innocent victims of the Nazi massacre which took place on the occasion of the feast of Saints Peter and Paul on 29 June 1944. That day 244 civilians were massacred, of which 115 in Civitella. Mattarella, accompanied by Defense Minister Guido Crosetto, was greeted by applause from those present, who shouted at him ‘thank you president‘ after the playing of the Italian anthem and military honours. “What happened is unimaginable,” said Mattarella, recalling the Nazi massacre. The Head of State then signed the book of memory and placed a laurel wreath in memory of the fallen.
The speech of the Head of State
«We are here in Civitella in Val di Chiana gathered to celebrate April 25th – the anniversary of the Liberation – in Civitella in Val di Chiana, eighty years after terrible, inhuman, Nazi-fascist massacre perpetrated, in this territory, on the defenseless population”, declared Mattarella. «The massacres took place not only in Civitella, but also in Cornia, where the cruelty of the soldiers of the infamous Goring division was vented in a particularly brutal waywith rapes and killings of children”, adds the Head of State.
«On the same day – Mattarella recalled – another massacre took place not far from here, in San Pancrazio, where over seventy people were exterminated. As evidenced by the trial documents, the massacres were coldly planned, many days before, and were carried out by deception and betrayal of the word. We cynically waited for the feast of Saints Peter and Paul to be sure of being able to carry out a larger roundup of the civilian population.”
The two parish priests who offered their lives
«The tragic accounting of June 29, 1944, in these lands tells of approximately 250 people murdered – says the Head of State – Among these, women, elderly people, priests and over ten young people and children. The youngest, Gloriano Polletti, was only one year old. Maria Luisa Lammionthe two. The parish priest of Civitella, Don Alcide Lazzeriand that of San Pancrazio, Don Giuseppe Torelli, they tried to offer their lives to save that of their people, but to no avail. They too were killed, along with the others. Some hostages, destined for death, they were injured or managed to escape. In their eyes, shocked and scared, the memory of that day of death and horror will remain forever imprinted”, concluded Mattarella.
