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Noach - Gen. 6-9/11-32
Speech given by the Vice President of the Community Anna Segre on April 1st at the ceremony commemorating the 82nd Anniversary of the Sacrifice of the Martyrs of Martinetto
Good morning everyone, I bring greetings from the Jewish Community of Turin.
Today, as every year, we are here together to remember all those who gave their lives for our freedom in this place. Young and old, students, workers, various professions, different circumstances of their arrest, different dates of their execution.
Among them was Ferruccio Valobra, commander of an independent partisan group operating in the Carmagnola area. As a Jew, the fascist regime had made him a second-class citizen; for the Nazis, he didn’t even have the right to live. The participation of Jews in the Resistance alongside others was also a response to these ideologies that denied the equality of all human beings. This is why it is important to be here together, eighty-two years later, to remember these fallen soldiers with gratitude and emotion and to remember that the values for which they fell—freedom, equality, democracy—can never be taken for granted but require our active support, our constant commitment.
This evening, for us Jews, the holiday of Pesach, Passover, begins, commemorating the liberation of the Jews from slavery. It is a joyful holiday, one that also celebrates reflection and discussion, because not even a liberation achieved more than three thousand years ago can be taken for granted without the commitment to keep it alive.
A commitment to which we Italians will also be called by the civil calendar. In a few weeks, we will commemorate the liberation of Italy and Europe from Nazi-Fascism; in two months, we will celebrate the first eightieth anniversary of our Republic. Therefore, we will have no shortage of opportunities to celebrate, and also to reflect.
In a world where nothing can be taken for granted, every moment like this becomes particularly relevant and meaningful.
So, thank you all for being here today.
