Spice. Stumbling blocks in the city to remember citizens and policemen deported to the Nazi extermination camps.
The unveiling ceremony of some "Stumbling Stones" positioned in the city was held this morning in La Spezia.
The stumbling blocks are small monuments that want to restore the dignity of human beings to those who were killed, make people reflect on the horror of what happened and ensure that what happened is never repeated again. To date, over 56.000 Stumbling Stones have been placed in numerous European countries, making it the largest monument widespread on European territory.
The Stumbling Stones were born from an initiative by the German artist Gunter Demnig to deposit in the urban fabric of European cities the widespread memory of the citizens deported to the Nazi extermination camps.
It is small square blocks of stone covered with brass of 10*10*9 cm, to which a brass plaque is applied on the upper side on which the name, year of birth, date and place of deportation and date of death of the deportee to whom the stone is dedicated are engraved.
The ceremony took place in front of the entrance to the former Police Headquarters, where in the presence of the Mayor of La Spezia Pierluigi Peracchini, the councilor for toponymy Maria Grazia Frijia, the Prefect of La Spezia Maria Luisa Inversivi, the Police Commissioner Lilia Fredella and Doriana Ferrato, President of ANED La Spezia, the unveiling of the 4 Stumbling Stones dedicated to the policemen LUDOVICO VIGILANTE, NICOLA AMODIO, ANNIBALE TONELLI, DOMENICO TOSETTI took place.
The policemen, all on duty at the La Spezia Police Headquarters, were interned in the Mauthasen concentration camp where they died, with the exception of the Auxiliary Guard of the State Police Domenico Tosetti.
The ceremony continued in Piazza Garibaldi and in the Migliarina district, with the unveiling of the 9 "Stumbling Stones" placed in the city in memory of the victims deported to the extermination camps, following the project proposed by the ANED association of La Spezia.
The route follows the positioning of the stumbling blocks dedicated to the memory of:
FERNANDO BECONCINI, AGOSTINO VIRDIS, GIOTTO PESCHIERA, VITRUVIO RICCIARDI, LVIRA FINZI, DARIO DERCHI, RIGHETTI UMBERTO ALFONSO, ALFREDO PAGANINI and AMELIA GIARDINI PAGANINI.
The Municipality of La Spezia therefore joined the project, making it available adequate technical support e
logistics, to create and spread the Stumbling Stones in the La Spezia area, building a common memory of the Nazi persecutions, through direct requests to family members.
Fundamental in this sense was the support of ANED and ANPS with reference to the policemen after whom the Stones are named.
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