Page 222 - Dark Shades of Istria
P. 222
Concluding Remarks
other (political) dissidents/opponents/persecuted people of different past
regimes, as well as economic migrants, are displaced throughout Europe
and other continents. These people, including their descendants, may re-
turn to their birthplaces or the birthplaces of their ancestors, which can
be considered as ‘roots tourism.’⁴ Attending dark memorial events can
significantly enrich their visit/stay in Istria. The development of visit pro-
grammes should thus be systematic, taking into account the national and
ideological peculiarities as well as the legal restrictions, e.g. the use of
some symbols. However, such history-centric events should be strictly
reverenced, dignified and focused on transcultural memory preserva-
tion, future, coexistence and cooperation, and peace, and not on the pro-
motion of political parties or ideas, institutions and extreme ideologies.
These memorial/dark events thus represent some kind of a cross-section
between dark and roots tourism, which requires some caution (not to
cross the boundaries of social acceptability). If we focus only on the Up-
per Adriatic, we can quickly find the reason behind it. In addition to the
memorial event in Basovizza/Bazovica mentioned in the introductory
chapter, it is worth mentioning the Italian neo-fascists’ provocation with
the hanging of the flag of the Kingdom of Italy in Rijeka in September
2019; some of them were taken in for police interrogation or barred from
entering the state – see, for example, Večernji list (‘Talijanski neofašisti
pokušali invaziju, policija privela 16-oricu: s dva aviona uspjeli sletjeti na
Krk,’ 2019) or Jutarnji list (Žabec & Benčić, 2019). Indeed, the monument
to the extremist and poet Gabriele D’Annunzio, who occupied Rijeka in
1919, was solemnly revealed in Trieste in September 2019 (K. Št., 2019).
The bigoted manifestations of Italian extremists in February 2018 in Italy
(Il Giorno del ricordo) (a nsa, 2018) were also illustrative. In fact, it could
be concluded that all this is a continuation of the events of the 1990s,
which also included heated political debates, media campaigns and tri-
als, which together mystified the foibe issue and the Italian victims, and
politicised the tragic wwii and post-wwii events (Pirjevec et al., 2012,
pp. 214–234). Incorrect media reporting (e.g. inflated numbers of victims
in the announcements of the Italian state agency a nsa) (2018, 2019) as
well as politicisation (e.g. the already mentioned words of Antonio Tajani
or the words of Massimiliano Fedriga, the president of the Friuli-Venezia
Giulia autonomous region)⁵ have been polluting the social atmosphere in
⁴ More can be found in Koderman (2012).
⁵ In relation to the ‘350,000 Italians who left Istria,’ he said that the Region ‘will raise its
222
other (political) dissidents/opponents/persecuted people of different past
regimes, as well as economic migrants, are displaced throughout Europe
and other continents. These people, including their descendants, may re-
turn to their birthplaces or the birthplaces of their ancestors, which can
be considered as ‘roots tourism.’⁴ Attending dark memorial events can
significantly enrich their visit/stay in Istria. The development of visit pro-
grammes should thus be systematic, taking into account the national and
ideological peculiarities as well as the legal restrictions, e.g. the use of
some symbols. However, such history-centric events should be strictly
reverenced, dignified and focused on transcultural memory preserva-
tion, future, coexistence and cooperation, and peace, and not on the pro-
motion of political parties or ideas, institutions and extreme ideologies.
These memorial/dark events thus represent some kind of a cross-section
between dark and roots tourism, which requires some caution (not to
cross the boundaries of social acceptability). If we focus only on the Up-
per Adriatic, we can quickly find the reason behind it. In addition to the
memorial event in Basovizza/Bazovica mentioned in the introductory
chapter, it is worth mentioning the Italian neo-fascists’ provocation with
the hanging of the flag of the Kingdom of Italy in Rijeka in September
2019; some of them were taken in for police interrogation or barred from
entering the state – see, for example, Večernji list (‘Talijanski neofašisti
pokušali invaziju, policija privela 16-oricu: s dva aviona uspjeli sletjeti na
Krk,’ 2019) or Jutarnji list (Žabec & Benčić, 2019). Indeed, the monument
to the extremist and poet Gabriele D’Annunzio, who occupied Rijeka in
1919, was solemnly revealed in Trieste in September 2019 (K. Št., 2019).
The bigoted manifestations of Italian extremists in February 2018 in Italy
(Il Giorno del ricordo) (a nsa, 2018) were also illustrative. In fact, it could
be concluded that all this is a continuation of the events of the 1990s,
which also included heated political debates, media campaigns and tri-
als, which together mystified the foibe issue and the Italian victims, and
politicised the tragic wwii and post-wwii events (Pirjevec et al., 2012,
pp. 214–234). Incorrect media reporting (e.g. inflated numbers of victims
in the announcements of the Italian state agency a nsa) (2018, 2019) as
well as politicisation (e.g. the already mentioned words of Antonio Tajani
or the words of Massimiliano Fedriga, the president of the Friuli-Venezia
Giulia autonomous region)⁵ have been polluting the social atmosphere in
⁴ More can be found in Koderman (2012).
⁵ In relation to the ‘350,000 Italians who left Istria,’ he said that the Region ‘will raise its
222
