The Path of Memory with VALUES

In this month, the date of 8 September 1943 was remembered, the day on which the armistice - or rather, the unconditional surrender - of Italy to the Anglo-American forces was signed. An anniversary that is often not adequately celebrated - perhaps also due to the proximity between the end of the holidays and the start of a new school year - which cannot and must not fall into oblivion.

A theme, that of oblivion and the importance of preserving Historical Memory, addressed within the European project VALUES - Les Chemines de la Memoire, which from the 21st to the 23rd saw a series of events between Borgaro, Turin and Somano - Cuneo - for the final meeting of what turned out to be an extraordinary adventure through history. A project that was able to unite two "worlds" apparently without points of contact: sporting activity and the recovery of the memory linked to the Resistance. Different realities, as already mentioned, but united by an unexpected common thread, given by the mountains. Mountains that also connect the partners who participated in the creation of VALUES - our UISP Ciriè Settimo Chivasso Committee for Italy, the Comité Régionale USEP AURA for France, the Consell Esportiu del Baix Camp of Reus - coordinated by the Association EuroRégionale UISP - USEP Alpes-Méditerranée. As anticipated, the last meeting was held over the past weekend, in a "stage route" starting from Borgaro Torinese.

Here, thanks to the collaboration between the local ANPI Section “Ercolina Suppo” and the MeetLab association - the docu-film “I Primi Saranno gli Ultimi” was screened, written by Pasquale D'Aiello - also director - and Mauro Manna: a work dedicated to the republican volunteers who fought in the Spanish Civil War, to bring to light the forgotten or untold stories. An objective very similar to what the partners of the VALUES project have achieved within schools, as explained by the president of the Euro Région Francesco Aceti in the second meeting, which took place at the Polo del '900 on the morning of 22 September. Several authorities intervened on this occasion - Nino Boeti, ANPI Provincial President; Claudio Paolazzo, mayor of the Cuneo municipality of Somano; Gianna Pentenero, councilor of the City of Turin with responsibility for the mountain-metro area; Jacopo Suppo, vice-mayor of the Metropolitan City of Turin and Daniele Valle, President of the Piedmont Region Resistance and Constitution Committee and Regional Councilor - during which the children of the "Antonelli" and "Alvaro" school complexes in the Mirafiori area also participated. To conclude, the delegations of the entities involved in the VALUES project made a short visit to the 20th century Polo Archives.

Final appointment on Saturday 23 September, in the municipality of Somano, which marks the 40th anniversary of the creation of the local Resistance Museum, "Memory of the Alps". An event created thanks to the collaboration of the ANPI of Cuneo and Alba-Bra-Langhe-Roero. “They were certainly intense days - commented the Director of the UISP Ciriè Settimo Chivasso Committee, Roberto Rinaldi - but the interest and participation in the VALUES project repaid us for the hard months of work. We are convinced, through this project, that we have planted the seed of memory in the new generations, who will thus be able to carry it forward when the direct witnesses of that tragedy will no longer be there."