The President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella arrived in Auschwitz from Warsaw on the second day of his visit to Poland.
After visiting the Auschwitz museum, the head of state takes part in the traditional March of the Living in remembrance of the victims of the Holocaust.
On this occasion, thousands of students from all over the world are present in the Nazi camp.
There is also a delegation from three Italian high schools.
Sergio Mattarella accompanied on his visit by the Bucci sisters, among the few witnesses still alive of the horror of the Holocaust.
"We are here today to pay homage and remember the millions of citizens murdered by a bloody regime like the Nazis who, with the complicity of European fascist regimes who handed over their fellow citizens to their executioners, committed a heinous crime against humanity.
A crime that can know neither oblivion nor forgiveness
.
Mattarella underlined.
"Today is Yom HaShoah day, Holocaust Remembrance Day. Remembering is a dimension of commitment. It is proof that,
against the heralds of oblivion, memory wins
. To affirm the pride of wanting to be "human persons" To reiterate "never again," said the president.
"
Hatred, prejudice, racism, extremism and indifference, delirium and the will to power are lurking
, they constantly challenge the conscience of people and peoples", Mattarella highlighted.
We must "remember the millions of citizens murdered by a bloody regime like the Nazis who, with the
complicity of European fascist regimes
who handed over their fellow citizens to their executioners, committed an atrocious crime against humanity", stated the head of the State.
"
In four years, from 1941 to 1945, over a million people were murdered in this complex
, because of their belonging to a faith, a culture, their beliefs or their condition. In the Nazi camps, in addition to millions of Jews, including political opponents, Sinti, Roma, the disabled, homosexuals met their death in the gas chambers, from cold, fatigue, hunger and disease or, again, because they were victims of criminal experiments.Innocent citizens of every country of Europe were bestially translated to this place of death.
An immense cemetery without tombs"
, continued Mattarella.
"Today more than ever, in the re-proposition of themes and topics that poisoned the season of the 1930s with the raging of the inhuman Russian aggression against Ukraine, the memory of the Holocaust remains a perennial warning that cannot be escaped ", she said, who also wanted to thank the Bucci sisters for their testimony: "this year two Italian sisters who survived the horrors of Birkenau accompany us in this unforgettable experience: Tatiana and Andra Bucci. With them, young students from my country Our thanks go to Tatiana and Andra".
ANSA agency
Tatiana Bucci moved in Auschwitz, no one will ever forget - Chronicle
I will continue to do my part as long as my health permits (ANSA)
"Studying it already, and I did it for a long time, is impressive but seeing it is another thing. It is already excruciating to read and see the testimonies in the videos, but
seeing it is another thing, which gives the measure of the unimaginable
Seeing those shoes, seeing those children's shoes, those of newborns are unimaginable things and we must continue to remember and we must remember that what we see is a small part," said Mattarella.
"
You too must pass on the memory
. You too must pass it on to whoever comes next ", the head of state appealed to the students present.
"A place of horror," Mattarella said as he visited the pavilions of the Nazi camp
.
The head of state remained in recollection in front of the wall of death where the prisoners were shot.
The school groups traveling with Mattarella to Auschwitz are those of the Leonardo da Vinci Scientific-Classical-Human Sciences High School in Terracina (Latina), the Rinaldini Classical High School - Ancona, the GA Pujati High School - Sacile (Pordenone).
Mattarella went to the Chancellery building in Warsaw in the morning for a meeting with Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki.
Later he saw the president of the Polish Senate.