Yesterday morning a large delegation of students from comprehensive schools “Dante Alighieri” Formia-Ventotene, “Vitruvio Pollione” and “Pasquale Mattej”, accompanied by a teacher from each school, was received in the “E. Ribaud” of the Town Hall, by the mayor of Formia Gianluca Taddeo and by the councilor for Culture and Public Education, Luigia Bonelli. During the meeting, the young students talked about their staff through various testimonies, projections and illustrative videos “Memory Trip”after the great emotion felt during the visit, which took place in mid-April, to the concentration camps of Auschwitz-Birkenau, Poland, a sadly well-known symbolic place which was the scene of the brutal extermination plans against the Jews during the Second World War. A journey through history and the dramatic events that changed the face of Europe, which also touched the city of Krakow and which was completely financed by the municipal administration of Formia, with the aim of maintaining the historical memory of that tragedy, transmitting to the younger generations the value of peace and freedom which were completely destroyed in that war.
“I believe that we cannot talk about memory – underlined the mayor Gianluca Taddeo – without referring to the new generations. Only if we manage to create moments of reflection and in-depth analysis, then we can say that we have made a difference by truly passing on a collective memory to young people. The trip to the concentration camps is one of those experiences that can profoundly change students’ point of view. It is a wealth of experience that these boys and girls will always carry with them, and it is for this reason that I convincedly wanted to embrace the project presented by the schools and which is rooted in the desire to create a path of awareness and awareness” .
“We live in a world terrorized by wars where innocent people lose their lives – continued the mayor, addressing the students – We need to work on the mentality so that there is commitment and active and effective involvement on your part too in a historical moment where sometimes priorities of life are taken too much for granted and it is necessary that the incessant and constructive work that we carry out in schools, with children in full developmental and training age, represents an important aspect that must absolutely not be underestimated, as any even small problem it must be expressed to the teachers, to the family. Our task is to bring young people closer to the institutions, there must not be detachment but on the contrary collaboration in dealing with the difficulties that inevitably arise in life. The administration wants and must be as close as possible to the school world and its needs. And in fact, valuable projects have been carried out with your managers, always attentive to making the school environments livable. Thanks to the resources linked to the Pnrr, new laboratories have been created aimed at improving the training aspect for your human and professional growth”.
During the meeting, the councilor for Culture and Public Education Luigia Bonelli reiterated that the municipal administration will always be close to the educational institutions and ready to embrace the various projects that enrich the wealth of knowledge. “It was very nice to see the works you have prepared, involving the comrades who did not have the opportunity to be present, but who nevertheless perceived the emotions you felt – comments the councilor – Studying from history books is fundamental, but looking closely is another thing entirely. You feel that sense of empathy towards those who are no longer here and who suffered and lost their lives during the war. It is an educational path that aims to raise awareness and increase awareness of what happened in a not so distant era and which could be of great use in everyone’s life and school career”.
“For us – declared the students of the three institutes, represented by the school directors, Immacolata Picone (“Vitruvio Pollione”), Adriana Roma (“Dante Alighieri”) and Gabriella Curato (“Pasquale Mattej) – this trip constituted not only a “an opportunity to visit Auschwitz, but above all an important moment to better understand history and to ensure that this experience opens our minds to understand and fight what has represented, and continues to represent, absolute evil.”
