Declaration by the Italian delegates of the International Committees

02.02.2024

The baton that the second and third generations took over from the survivors of the Nazi concentration camps concentration camps contains not only the memory of their deportation and the protection the protection of the places of their tragic suffering, but also the insistent and passionate and persecution, a future characterized by humanism and solidarity between all nations. humanism and solidarity between peoples. In the last century, Spain, Italy and Germany have been theaters of a dictatorship that the abolition of human rights, racial persecution and discrimination against political political opinion, have led the whole of Europe into a devastating war. The consequences of that conflict should have served as a lesson to future generations, but instead we have seen events that have been questioning the whole of Europe for years and require a firm condemnation. and require firm condemnation. The Russian invasion of Ukraine over a year ago claimed thousands of lives, the deportation of Ukrainian children, the devastation and destruction of entire villages and cities and triggered an exodus of millions of refugees: old people, women and children who sought refuge from the war, hunger and bombs in all European countries. bombs. At the same time, we register the constant tragedy of other refugees trying to reach Europe from the African coasts. African coasts trying to reach Europe to escape wars, famine and climatic disasters. famine and climatic disasters. Thousands of Africans, Syrians and Afghans, after terrible experiences in the Libyan and Tunisian camps, have disappeared into the Mediterranean. The response of some European countries in the face of this immense tragedy is often a closure, of clear racist origin, to the stranger and in some countries, such as Poland and Hungary, we also notice Poland and Hungary, we also notice, in addition to the expulsions, a continuous and systematic denial of ethnic, religious and sexual diversity, which are acquired human rights and which are considered universally valid in modern democracies and an attack on freedom of information by the governments of those countries. The Italian delegates of the International Committees very much regret these and ask that the legacies of the survivors of the Nazi camps, which should be a which should be a warning to all, to be heard and put into practice. We will continue to make their voices heard in every national and European seat. June 15, 2023