A mining well, dug at the beginning of the 20th century to intercept a vein of coal and soon abandoned due to its unproductivity, in May 1945 became a place of summary executions by Tito’s communist partisans for thousands of Italians from all backgrounds: civilians, soldiers, carabinieri, financiers, police officers and prison custody, fascists and anti-fascists, members of the National Liberation Committee, first destined for the internment camps set up in Slovenia and subsequently informed in Basovizza.

After being taken from the houses of Trieste, during a few days of a strict curfew they were transported by death wagons to Basovizza and with their hands torn by iron wire and often tied together in chains, they were pushed in groups towards the edge of the abyss. A volley of machine guns at the first made everyone fall into the abyss. On the bottom, those who did not find instant death after a flight of 200 meters, continued to agonize between the spasms of the wounds and the lacerations reported in the fall between the rock spikes. Many victims were first stripped and tortured.

Declared a National Monument in 1992, it has now become the main memorial – a symbol for the families of the infoibati and deportees who died in concentration camps in Yugoslavia and of the associations of Italians exiled from Istria, Rijeka and Dalmatia, who remember the victims here. of the violence of 1943-1945. Remembrance Day is a national civil solemnity celebrated on February 10 each year. Established with law no. 92 of March 30, 2004 “The Republic recognizes February 10 as the” Day of Remembrance “in order to preserve and renew the memory of the tragedy of the Italians and of all the victims of sinkholes, of the exodus from their lands of Istrians, Rijekers and Dalmatians in the second postwar period and of the more complex affair of the eastern border “.

In 2007 the new arrangement of the Memorial was inaugurated,

which since 2008 has also been equipped with a Documentation Center managed by the National League in collaboration with the Municipality of Trieste.

18

Aug

2020

SYNAGOGUE TRIESTE

Posted By : Redazione TriesteraccontaTrieste/ 738 0

The first document that testifies to a Jewish settlement in Trieste dates back to 1236. At the end of the eighteenth century there were four synagogues in Trieste. In 1903 an international competition was launched for the construction of a new large synagogue. Of the 42 projects presented, none were chosen because they were all unachievable and in 1906, the Jewish community entrusted itself directly to Ruggero Berlam, who was joined by his son Arduino, for the final project and purchased a fund in the then Piazza San Francesco d’Assisi , today Piazza Giotti, occupied at the end of the 19th century by the carpentry of Carlo Cante.

An international competition of ideas was also launched, for its construction, but the Temple both for its size and for its structure is a typical synagogue of the era of emancipation in which the main prayer hall, with a rectangular plan, is it is divided into three naves which culminate in the majestic apse with a golden mosaic vault. The main entrance is located in via Donizetti, where the large portal is opened on the most important holidays. while access to the Synagogue is from the small loggia in Via San Francesco.

The Temple is one of the largest and most majestic in Europe, and is characterized by oriental references that come back in the mullioned windows, in the columns, in the carvings and in the characteristic rose windows that draw the Star of David. The interior has three naves: the two side aisles are surmounted by women’s galleries. The floor is mosaic. The decorations are limited to geometric figures or plant shapes. The apse, preceded by an arch decorated with mosaics, emphasizes the Holy Ark, with the pink granite aedicule, surmounted by the Tables of the Law. At the center of the balcony a bundle of ears, symbol of the Community. The construction of the temple began in 1908 but the official delivery to the community and the inauguration took place in June 1912.

Over the decades, the Temple, of German rite, has been a witness and also a victim of all the events that involved Trieste Jews and the entire city during the period of the fascist racial laws promulgated in 1938 and at the time of the Nazi occupation of the city. Smeared on the outside for the first time in October 1941 with insulting phrases by the fascists, it was also heavily devastated internally on 18 July 1942 by a group of squadrists.

With the Nazi occupation, in 1944 the synagogue was transformed into a warehouse for Jewish goods and was further damaged inside. In June 1945 the reopening ceremony of the Temple in front of the allied forces marked the return to life of the survivors of the local Jewish community;

In 2000, some stained glass windows of the temple damaged by the 1976 earthquake were replaced and in June 2012 the Community celebrated the first centenary of the Temple together with all the citizens. In the Via San Francesco complex there are also the offices of the Community, the library, the historical archive and the mikveh (ritual bath).

09

Aug

2020

MUSEUM OF THE WAR FOR PEACE DIEGO DE HENRIQUEZ TRIESTE

Posted By : v.cortese/ 737 0

The De Henriquez museum represents one of the major Italian museum attractions in the sector. The message delivered to history by its founder is a letter H that incorporates the initial of the surname, and is crossed by a band of bright colors, alluding to the flag of peace. The de Henriquez collection, owned by the Municipality since 1983, exhibited in the museum, is composed of: 15,000 inventoried objects, of which 2800 weapons, 24,000 photographs, 287 diaries (38,000 pages), 12,000 books, 2,600 posters and flyers, 500 prints, 470 geographical and topographical maps, 30 archival collections, 290 musical documents, 150 paintings, a collection of films (250 cinematographic documents kept at the Istituto Luce in Rome), and documents relating to both the first and second world war as well as some unique and extraordinary pieces.

The permanent exhibition entitled “1914-1918 The Funeral of Peace” is dedicated to the history of the First World War and starts from the hearse of the Zimolo company in Trieste (early 1900s), of the same type as those that on 2 July 1914 transported the body of Archduke Francesco Ferdinando, nephew of Emperor Franz Joseph I and heir to the throne of the Habsburgs, and that of his wife Duchess Sofia Chotek from the Piazza Grande (now Unit) to the southern station of Trieste.

A large part of the space is attributed to the large guns and to the rotated vehicles relating to the period and accompanied by explanatory texts. A path rich in history through the sections dedicated to Propaganda, the Trench, the Industrial War, up to the sectors of the defeat of Caporetto, where one of the saddest pages of Italian history is illustrated, and the Last Front where they are told the final stages of the conflict. An interesting parenthesis on “1914-1918 Trieste at war” outlines the history and fate of the city from the period immediately preceding the conflagration to the end of the war.

Contains the largest collection of small, medium and large weapons in Italy.

Diego de Henriquez was born in Trieste on February 20, 1909, from an early age he devoted himself with passion to collecting objects of the most varied nature, but the beginning of the great war collection began in 1941, when called to arms he was authorized by his superiors to recover ” war prey “. He began to set up a war museum, at the same time he created a newspaper of the 25th sector, compiled a guide relating to the same sector and set up a photographic laboratory. After 1945, being a skilled diplomat, he managed with the authorities of the various occupying troops in the territory, to obtain other military material which increased his already large collection.

Tag: trieste

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FOIBA OF BASOVIZZA – NATIONAL MONUMENT TRIESTE

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SYNAGOGUE TRIESTE

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MUSEUM OF THE WAR FOR PEACE DIEGO DE HENRIQUEZ TRIESTE