Assisi’s school children well-know the significance of that Giorno della Memoria (“Day of Remembrance” (or “the Day of Memory”) – and a good group participated this year in Assisi’s annual January 27th ceremony commemorating the liberation of the Nazi concentration camps with the ending of the Holocaust on that day in 1945.
law passed in July, 2000 in Italy instituted the “Giorno della Memoria in ricordo dello sterminio e delle persecuzioni del popolo ebraico e dei deportati militari e politici italiani nei campi nazisti” (“in memory of the extermination and persecution of the Jewish people and those military and Italian political prisoners deported to the Nazi camps”).
In Assisi this year for the January 27th commemoration, the relatives of 5 Italian military deportees received the Medaglia d’Onore honoring their relatives who had been captured and deported to Nazi work camps.

The ceremony drew in many and took place in the Bishop’s palace in a room called “la Sala della Spogliazione” (“the Room of the De-robing”), close to the very site where St. Francis had renounced his earthly inheritance in 1206 before his father, Pietro di Berardone and Bishop Guido of Assisi.
That event was frescoed in the Basilica di San Francesco, end of the 13th century by artists of the school of Giotto…..

…and a copy of the image had been placed behind the medals of honor:

Bronze reliefs recounting the event of the “de-robing” of Francesco on this site flank the entrance to the Vescovado (Bishop’s Palace) where I headed for the Giorno della Memoria commemoration on January 27th:

When I arrived at the Vescovado, a television interview was already taking place with Armando Gradone, Prefetto di Perugia.
The prefect, representing the central government within the province (and Assisi is in the province of Perugia), is responsible for law and order and takes charge in the case of any national calamities or other situations of emergency.

,
The commemoration ceremony opened with a welcome to the Vescovado by Assisi’s vescovo (bishop), the Prefetto seated next to him:

..
The Prefetto di Perugia then welcomed all to the ceremony, flanked by the bishop and Marina Rosati, director of Assisi’s Museo della Memoria:

And later on during the event, Prefetto Armondo Gradone called for volunteers from the group of school children to come forward, reminding them for the need today of tolerance of all people, inviting them to be “sentinels (noting) antisemitism, racism, violence against women… (as) human dignity is the fundamental cornerstone of our civilization.”

He transmitted his serious plea with a playful skit…..

……enjoyed by all, including all the representatives of the Italian security forces, seated in the first row.
Another representative of the central government of Italy, the balding Sottosegretario del Ministro dell’Interno (Undersecretary of the Minister of the Interior), Emanuele Prisco – seated closest to the Prefect – beamed too:

.
…and he spoke next, welcoming all and invoking the need for tolerance and solidarity in today’s world.
A contemporary image of the “de-robing” of Francesco was behind him, Assisi’s mayor, Stefania Proietti, was seated nearby in her tri-colored sash.

In her bordeaux jacket, Donatella Tesei, President of the Region of Umbria, spoke after the Undersecretary, underscoring Umbria’s assistance to Jewish refugees in World War II. Marina Rosati, Director of Assisi’s Museum of Memory, listened attentively…..

….as did all the representatves of the security forces:

Mayor Stefania Profetti, then took the mike to welcome all to Assisi’s Giorno della Memoria events, taking place from January 23rd to January 30th in Assisi as museum director Marina Rosati – seated at the head table – listened:

I was seated across from the relatives there to accept the medals in the name of family members who had been deported and interred in lagers


And the ceremony concluded with the consignment of the Medaglie d’Onore to these family members of the Italian soldiers who had been deported and interred.
Each medal was presented by the mayor of the soldier’s town (medal given to the mayor by the Prefect of Perugia).
The pride of all was palpable – and I hope you can feel it in some of these photos:





And the commemoration did not end with the presentation of the medals.
No, not at all for this is italy!
The event ended with a sharing of foods and wine.
A reception followed across the courtyard of the Bishop’s Palace in the frescoed Sala dei Vescovi (Room of the Bishops), where prosecco and an abundant array of savories and sweets were offered to all:


Portraits of centuries of Assisi bishops, bordering the blue frescoed vault, looked down solemnly at the feasting group,….



Monsignore Placido Nicolini was there, too, smiling down at everyone as if pleased with the commemoration that had taken place in the Vescovado.

Honored at Yad Veshem as a Righteous Gentile, Nicolini (and others assisting him) successfully saved about 300 Jewish refugees hidden in Assisi in World War II (1943-1944.

Il Prefetto di Perugia joined in too, chatting with the descendants of the deportees honored that morning:


With my prosecco, I toasted the deportees honored that day…

….and wished “condoglianze ed anche congratulazioni” (“condolences but also congratulations”) to Vianella and Emanuela who had accepted the Medaglie d’Onore honoring their deported fathers:

As Prefetto Gradone had said in his speech, “Our country must remember its heroes, those who risked their lives. Today we remember our heroes through their family.”
I’ll get together with Emanuela and Vianella soon to hear the full stories of their heroic fathers, commemorated in a memorable Assisi ceremony il Giorno della Memoria.
Their fathers will always be remembered.


Read more here about Monsignore Nicolini, Righteous Gentile
Read more here about Assisi’s remembrance of the Holocaust
Read about Yad Vashem and the Righteous Among the Nations
Read about San Francisco’s Jewish community thanks to Assisi at the time of the 1997 earthquake
Read about the cloistered Poor Clares who gave shelter to the Jewish refugees
Read about the Assisi Good Friday procession – with stops at a convent where refugees were hidden
Read about Luigi and Trento Brizi, printers, who falsified the documents hiding Assisi’s Jewish refugees
Read more here about the Brizi printing press – and a related Assisi commemoration event
Read about Gino Bartali who cycled thousands of miles, transporting hidden documents.
Read about Don Aldo Brunacci here, collaborating with the Bishop in hiding Jewish refugees
Click to read about Graziella Viterbi, hidden in Assisi in World War II with her family
Read about Colonel Valentin Muller, German commander in Assisi – and protector
Click here to read about a northern Italy Jewish family hidden in Assisi