Twenty-five years later, pain did not become oblivion, but in a wound that the Italian and Italian-American community of New York continues to heal with the force of collective memory. Today, at the General Consulate of Italy in New York, there was a solemn ceremony that has joined institutions, families and rescuers in a hug that crossed the ocean, reaffirming an indissoluble bond between the two shores of the Atlantic.
On 11 September 2001, many firefighters and representatives of the forces of the order of Italian origin entered the towers while the crowd fled: an act of heroism that cost their lives.
Minister Alessandra Locatelli brought the official greeting of the Italian Government, underlining how the sacrifice of over 400 people of Italian origin represents a fundamental part of the history of the country: “That story we built it together and we have to keep it alive”.
It was not a day dedicated to the celebration of terror, but to the resilience of a people who, although struck by the heart, chose to react with the dignity of memory.
The Knight Giulio Picolli with Minister Alessandra Locatelli
The ceremony was marked by moments of profound emotional intensity, orchestrated with dedication by Giulio Picolli, founder of the Italian Association Yesterday, today and tomorrow and Knights of the Italian Republic of New Jersey. Picolli, who has dedicated many years to the reconstruction of the losses of Italian origins of September 11, presented a commemorative volume that collects the names of all the Italian-American victims of the attack at the World Trade Center, which delivered to the families present.
“In the reading of names you can follow page by page”, said Picolli, whose tireless research and cataloguing work transformed a list of names into a paper monument to memory.
Consul General Giuseppe Pastorelli welcomed, on behalf of the Italian Republic, a symbol of extraordinary power: a cross made with steel recovered from the rubble of the World Trade Center, donated by the National Council of Columbia Associations. “We will celebrate this cross here in Consulate,” the Consul assured, calling it a warning for future commemorations and a solemn commitment to the community.
The event gave voice to those who, that day, saw their world crumble. The family records humanized statistics. They told about broken lives, fathers, brothers and children who did not return home, and a community that, while seeking refuge in Italy to find a sense of peace in its origins, still bears the weight of that 2001.
Among the many testimonies was that of Maria Marinello, who recalled the generous lawyer, deceased for a disease linked to the exposure to the toxic dusts of Ground Zero: testimony that reminded everyone how the tragedy of the World Trade Center did not exhausted on September 11 but had repercussions in terms of victims even in the coming years.
The day ended with the solemn reading of the names of the Italian-American victims, a rite that transformed the consolate hall into a universal gathering place. Among the present, a delegation of the Firefighters of Brescia, who witnessed the operational and moral closeness between the Italian and American rescue bodies.
While discussing the possibility of exhibiting at the Altar of the Homeland, in Rome, a flag that acts as a sweater with the names of the 411 fallen, the message that emerges from this day is clear: memory is not a passive exercise. It is, as Consul Pastorelli recalled, a moral obligation. In a fast-paced world, the Italian community in New York also chose this year to stop, to look back and to honor who, in that tragic September, paid the highest price, ensuring that their name continues to resonate, year after year, beyond time and beyond distance.
L’articolo Italy does not forget: the memory of the more than 400 Italian-American victims of September 11 comes from IlNewyorkese.
L’articolo L’Italia non dimentica: il ricordo delle oltre 400 vittime italo-americane dell’11 settembre proviene da IlNewyorkese.
L’articolo L’Italia non dimentica: il ricordo delle oltre 400 vittime italo-americane dell’11 settembre proviene da IlNewyorkese.
