Premier Giorgia Meloni's cabinet on
Wednesday approved the creation of a Museum of Remembrance of
the Fiobe, the massacre of the thousands of Italians and the
forced exile of others by Tito's partisans in ethnic cleansing
at the end of World War II.
The 'foibe' refers to mass killings of the local Italian
population, mainly in Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Istria and Dalmatia
during and after the war.
Foibe are narrow Carsic pits or gorges into which victims were
thrown, sometimes alive.
The new museum was proposed by Meloni and Culture Minister
Gennaro Sangiuliano.
"The creation of the museum is a historical duty towards the
Istrian, Fiuman and Dalmatian exiles who suffered under Tito's
communist dictatorship," said Sangiuliano after the cabinet
meeting.
"These tragedies must not be forgotten. They are an important
part of Italian history and must be known and understood by the
new generations".
He said the Lazio region, which Rome belongs to, has pledged to
make a building available for the museum.
Many of the 'foibe' victims were thrown into the narrow mountain
gorges during anti-Fascist uprisings in the area and the exact
number of victims of these atrocities is unknown, in part
because Tito's forces destroyed local population records to
cover up their crimes.
Italy did not have a Foibe Remembrance Day, held on February 10,
until 2005, as the tragedy had been swept under the carpet by
anti-Fascists in the postwar
years.
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