Institutional portal - Municipality of Milan

Numerous initiatives at the Shoah memorial, Piazza Edmond J. Safra, 1 - ex via Ferrante Aporti, 3. From tomorrow the 9 (Central Station terminus) becomes the "Memory Tram" - Photo gallery - Photo gallery on the crown on the plaque located at the former Albergo Regina - Meeting with the students

All initiatives are published on https://www.comune.milano.it/web/milano-memoria

Milan, January 23 2023 – People, places and destinations that Milan does not want to forget. On Friday 27 January the city will celebrate Remembrance Day, established in 2005 by the United Nations to commemorate every year, on the symbolic date of the liberation of the Auschwitz extermination camp, all the victims of the Shoah.

This year too, institutions, bodies and associations have contributed to the implementation of numerous initiatives which began this morning with the laying of the new stumbling blocks. This year 26 people will be remembered, men, women and children, entire families, in 19 different addresses in the city. The first stones were placed today, the remaining ones will be placed on March 6, on the European Day of the Righteous. Thanks to the collaboration of the European Institute of Design and a group of male and female students, the stories of the 26 victims of deportation will be told, for the benefit of younger people, in Instagram stories, becoming stumbling blocks on social media. Also committed to safeguarding the memory will be the students of the schools in Municipality 2 who will take care of the stumbling blocks placed in their neighborhoods.

Since 2017, 171 people have been remembered through stumbling blocks in Milan, in 135 different addresses throughout the city. The first stone, placed in the presence of Senator Liliana Segre, survivor of the extermination camp, was set on 19 January six years ago, in front of her house in Corso Magenta 55, in memory of Alberto Segre, her beloved father . Deported together with her on January 30, 1944, he died in Auschwitz three months later.

The laying of the first stumbling block in 2017 began "Milan is memory", the project desired and implemented by the Municipality of Milan to consolidate and promote knowledge of the most significant and representative figures and events of the city, which are based on four founding dates: January 27th (Remembrance Day), April 25th (anniversary of the Liberation from Nazi-Fascism), May 9th (Remembrance Day for the Victims of Terrorism) and December 12th (anniversary of the Piazza Fontana massacre). Four pillars in the city and national history that continue to arouse feelings, reflections, testimonies and participation.

Today the presentation of the program of initiatives for Remembrance Day was opened by the memory of Laura Wronowski, partisan relay and granddaughter of Giacomo Matteotti, who died yesterday in her native Milan at the age of 99. The senator for life Liliana Segre spoke with the members of the Committee for Stumbling Stones, the members of the Coordination Committee of Milan is Memory and the representatives of the municipal administration. Also present were Roberto Jarach, President of the Holocaust Memorial, Walker Meghnagi, President of the Jewish Community, ANED and ANPI, students of the IED, Gariwo Foundation, ATM, SEA and a representation of the schools of Municipality 2.

Together with the laying of the stumbling blocks, many other initiatives were presented, all with one great aim: to keep the memory of what happened alive and to raise awareness of the places in the city linked to this moment, first of all the Shoah memorial - Track 21 (piazza Edmond J. Safra 1 – ex via Ferrante Aporti 3), from where the trains of deportees departed. Last November, at the instigation of Senator Segre, the municipal administration undertook to make more widely known where the memorial was located and how to reach it. Hence the proposal to personalize an ATM tram by dedicating it to Remembrance Day and the Shoah Memorial - Track 21. The proposal thus became a project and therefore reality: from tomorrow the "Memory Tram" will begin to circulate with a new livery characterized by an expanse of poppies symbolizing memory, hope and rebirth. On the side are the writings "January 27 - Remembrance Day" and "Shoah Memorial - Platform 21 - Central Station". The fully accessible tram will travel on line 9 specially chosen by ATM for its city route to the Central Station. Its terminus is located a few minutes walk from the Holocaust memorial. On the entrance window, in Piazza Edmond J. Safra 1, an identical window sticker will recall the livery of the tram, further indicating the place.

The Shoah memorial will therefore be at the center of Remembrance Day. Two days of guided tours will take place there with the presence of volunteers from the Civil Protection, students from the "Frisi" Institute in Monza, and with people detained at the second prison in Milan Bollate. On the days of the visit it will also be possible to see the exhibition set up for the occasion dedicated to the Hundred Righteous of the world.

On the evening of January 27th, live on Rai, the memorial will be made known to millions of people, again thanks to the presence of Senator Segre who will be interviewed by Fabio Fazio. The Municipality will be present with some documents transferred for the occasion from the Citadel of archives: the 1938 Census register will be shown, in which Liliana Segre's family was recorded; the register of the military draft of those born in 1899, the famous boys of '99, the last new adults who left for the Great War. Alberto Segre had been one of the boys of 1899 and the "Jewish race" stamp was placed on his name in the 1938 draft register.

Together with the Shoah memorial, other places in the city will also host initiatives. Palazzo Marino, on 27 January in Sala Alessi, will welcome a representation of students from the city schools and tomorrow, Tuesday 24 January, at 17 pm a concert for the twentieth anniversary of the Garden of the Righteous. 

And then the Teatro alla Scala, the "Giuseppe Verdi" Conservatory, the "Gaber" Lyric Theatre, the Pime and Bruno Munari theatres, Palazzo Reale, Linate airport, the former Albergo Regina and the nine town halls. Other events will take place in the Garden of the Righteous, in the North Park and in the streets of the city which will host the March for memory (Run for mem), on the morning of Sunday 29 January. 

Finally, we remember the Citadel of the archives, where it is always possible to consult the material relating to the 1938 Census by writing to cittadellarchivi@comune.milano.it. Remembrance Day, January 27th, for 24 hours, will be available online from the Municipality's Geoportal. interactive map of the historic Census.

People

• Laying of stumbling blocks in memory of 26 people deported and killed in concentration camps: Nissim Hazan, Carolina Americano Hazan, Ginette Hazan, Colette Hazan, Alfredo Vezzani, Luigi Bassi, Mario Sordini, Leo Giro, Lucia De Benedetti, Mario Oriani , Angelo Antonio Piazzolla, Otello Salvatore Braccialarghe, Ferdinando De Capitani, Mario Madè, Ambrogio Campi, Ateo Castellani, Luigi Duci, Aldo Levi, Lodovico Petit Bon, Rebecca Nahum Blum, Enrichetta Blum, Ida Cases Valabrega, Alma Valabrega, Aldo Valabrega, Alberto Valabrega and Bruno Valabrega; 
• Instagram story, virtual pose on the Instagram profile milanopietredinciampo, (European Institute of Design); 
• Meeting with students, January 27th at 11:00 am, in Sala Alessi a Palazzo Marino (ANED, ANPI and UCEI); 
• Show "Anna diary son of the Shoah, the devastating storm", January 31st at 10am, Teatro Lirico Gaber; 
• "100 Righteous from the World" exhibition, until 5 February, Shoah memorial - Binario 21 (Gariwo Association – Galleria l'Affiche); 
• Nedo theater show, 27 January at 10am (for schools) and 30pm, Pime Theater (Shoah Memorial Foundation, ANED, Gariwo Foundation); 
• Live podcast Stories of the Righteous, Fernanda Wittgens the director of the Pinacoteca di Brera, on 23 January, on gariwo.net (Gariwo Foundation); 
• Concert for chamber ensemble and fantasy drawings, Draw Me Your Tree, aimed at boys and girls from primary and lower secondary schools, 26 January at 18pm Teatro Bruno Munari (Fondazione Gariwo).

Places

• Shoah memorial. For the first time since January 2020, the Shoah memorial in Milan is organizing two days of free visits, thus taking up a tradition loved by all visitors; 
• Palazzo Marino, Sala Alessi, 24 January at 17pm, Concert for the 30th anniversary of the Garden of the Righteous (Garden of the Righteous Association); 
• Teatro alla Scala, Ridotto dei Chichi "Arturo Toscanini", 24 January at 16pm, Concert for Remembrance Day (ANPI Milan); 
• Royal Palace, memoriandum (Remembrance – Resilience – Resistance), 10 – 30, Royal Palace; 
• Linate Airport, 25 January at 11am, inauguration of the exhibition "The Righteous among the Nations" (SEA and Sons of the Shoah Association);
• Giuseppe Verdi Conservatory, 26 January at 9am, Remembrance Day 30. Milan remembers the Shoah (Association "Sons of the Shoah");
• Ex Albergo Regina via Silvio Pellico corner of via Santa Margherita, 27 January at 9am, wreath laying;
• North Park, Monument of the deported, at 11 am, commemoration ceremony, 11 am;
• Garden of the Righteous, 26 and 27 January (for schools) and 28 January, guided tours (Gariwo Foundation).

Destinations

Shoah Memorial - Platform 21, from 27 January, ATM tram with terminus in the Central Station, personalized "Shoah memorial - Platform 21" (Municipality of Milan - ATM); 
Memory Community Trips dedicated to secondary schools, from Milan (Garden of the Righteous) to Krakow and the Auschwitz Birkenau camp, 20 January at 16pm (Gariwo Foundation); 
Streets of the city, non-competitive race "Run for mem", through via Fatebenefratelli (Police Headquarters), via Silvio Pellico (ex Albergo Regina), piazza Diaz (Monument to the Carabiniere and General Carlo Alberto dalla Chiesa), via Beccaria (Local Police Command ), January 29 at 9:30.

The Remembrance Day initiatives are the result of the collaboration of the Municipality of Milan with its Milan is memory project with the Committee for Stumbling Stones, the Shoah memorial - Track 21, Gariwo Foundation, "Children of the Shoah" Association, ANED, ANPI, E UCEI, Teatro alla Scala, Conservatory of Milan, ATM and SEA.