(Finance) – The Secretary General of the Robert Kennedy Human Rights Italia Association, Frederick Moroand the Mayor of Sant’Anna di Stazzema, Maurice Verona they signed a today Memorandum of Understanding to bring themes related to human rights, civic education and sustainability to local schools, also to keep alive the memory of events such as the massacre of Saint Anna of Stazzema. In particular, the Association will organize for the teachers and students of the schools of Stazzema training courses on human rightssustainability and, in general, issues relating to civic education (as provided for by Law 92/2019).
The signature arrived in a suggestive setting, during the day for the commemoration of the victims of theNazi-Fascist Massacre of August 12, 1944, in which hundreds of civilians were barbarously massacred (mostly women, children and elderly people). An event attended by several representatives of the institutions, including the President of the Tuscany Region Eugenio Giani, the Mayor of Florence Sara Funaro, the President of the Association of the Martyrs of Sant’Anna Umberto Mancini, the Councilor for Public Education and Culture of the Municipality of Stazzema Anna Guidi, the MEP Nicola Zingaretti and the Mayor of the German city of Moers (a town twinned with Stazzema) Christoph Fleischhauer.
Institutions such as the President of the Republic have not failed to show their closeness, Sergio Mattarella :”The Nation’s heartfelt sentiment goes to the descendants and people of Stazzema. A great moral legacy has been left by the survivors. The witness of memory will continue to pass from hand to hand, to remember that these are imprescriptible crimes”.
Message of peace also from the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola: “I would like to thank you because for 80 years, you have not stopped for a moment to remember what happened in Sant’Anna in that terrible summer of 1944. You did it so that it would never happen again. You have taught young people the difference between the Europe of nationalisms of the past and the Europe of today. Ours must be a Europe of memory, which recognises the commitment of those who fought for the ideals that we sometimes take for granted, which remembers all those who have disappeared; those who faced tanks and bullets to free themselves from the totalitarianism that held much of Europe in its grip for so long; for all those who believed in a better tomorrow and who were not afraid to dream. Ours must be a Europe that pays homage to them and honours our common history”.
On the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the tragic event, celebrated in Park (a unique reality of its kind in Europe, one of three in the world together with Hiroshima and Nagasaki), the Robert Kennedy Human Rights Italia Association wants to start a new path that will involve schools and teachers in the area. The work on young people is, in fact, one of the pillars of the Association, convinced that only through education can a better future be built.
“A culture of peace and dialogue between peoples are pillars that unite our reality with the Peace Park. Educating and raising awareness among young people is essential to building a just and peaceful world. We are proud to sign this agreement on such a significant day” he declares Federico MoorSecretary General Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Italy.
“We are pleased to sign a pact that puts young students, their education and knowledge of the tragic events of the Second World War at the centre of attention in places where the roots of the European Union are firmly established,” commented the Mayor and president of the National Peace Park Institution Maurizio Verona -. A constant commitment that, starting with the survivors of the massacre of Sant’Anna di Stazzema, is a priority here in the Peace Park. Therefore, this agreement with the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Italia Association strengthens the work of spreading and raising awareness of the values of peace and democracy towards the new generations”.
During the commemoration, RFK Italy And Colors for Peace (a non-profit association that promotes children’s artistic work) then presented aexhibition of drawings on the theme of peace created by children from all over the world, to raise public awareness and send a message of inclusion and solidarity.
This year, moreover, approximately 200 photographsmany of which unpublished, have been collected in a video that represents an invaluable documentary heritage for the history of Sant’Anna. Images of the faces of the victims, and often even of entire families, exterminated during the Stazzema massacre of August 12, 1944.