MEMORIAL DAY: SPEECH OF THE MAYOR OF MILAN

TODAY IS A DAY OF PAIN FOR ALL OF US. A PAIN THAT IS DIFFICULT TO EXPRESS AGAINST THE IMMEASURABLE ANGUISH OF THOSE WHO HAVE LOSE THEIR LOVED ONES. PERHAPS SILENCE IS BEST: THE TRANQUILLITY WE FIND, TOO, IN THIS BEECH WOOD. I HAVE READ MANY MOVING THOUGHTS EXPRESSED IN THE BOOK DEDICATED TO THIS PLACE OF PEACE. THOUGHTS BORN OUT OF THE TEARS OF THOSE WHO HAVE LOST THEIR FATHER, THEIR OFFSPRING, THEIR SISTER, THEIR LIFE’S COMPANION. YET THEY ARE WORDS OF HOPE; THEY ENCOURAGE US TO EXPRESS OUR MESSAGE OF CONDOLENCE. THEY DISTURB US AND REMIND US OF OUR DUTIES AS CITIZENS AND PUBLIC ADMINISTRATORS. IT IS OUR DUTY TO SPEAK OUT. IT IS OUR DUTY TO KEEP THIS MEMORY ALIVE. IT IS OUR DUTY TO MAKE SURE THAT THE RESPONSIBILITY FOR THIS TRAGEDY IS BROUGHT INTO THE OPEN. WE WANT TO KNOW, BECAUSE THE VICTIMS’ FAMILIES HAVE AT LEAST A RIGHT TO JUSTICE AND BECAUSE WE, TOO, ARE AMONGST THOSE AFFECTED BY THIS TRAGEDY. TOO OFTEN, IN OUR COUNTRY, WE NEVER KNOW THE NAMES OF THOSE RESPONSIBLE FOR WHAT HAPPENED: WE EXPECT PRECISE AND DEFINITE FINDINGS. DOUBTS AND UNCERTAINTIES MUST BE SWEPT ASIDE TOGETHER WITH, ABOVE ALL, THE SUSPICION THAT THOSE RESPONSIBLE WILL NEVER BE FOUND AND TRIED, THAT THEY WILL STAY IN THEIR JOBS. THOSE WHO CONTRIVE TO HIDE THE GUILTY ARE ACCESSORIES TO THESE CRIMES, ACCESSORY EVEN TO THOSE THAT MAY HAPPEN IN THE FUTURE. BUT THERE ARE ALSO OTHER FORMS OF COMPLICITY: POLITICAL MANIPULATIONS, WHICH, IN PURSUING THE ADVERSARY IN A BIASED WAY, HINDER THE SEARCH FOR TRUTH. THE CITY OF MILAN WAS AMONGST THE FIRST TO GIVE TANGIBLE HELP TO THE VICTIMS’ FAMILIES. IT DID SO NOT BECAUSE IT FELT GUILTY, THOUGH WHO DEPLY SHARES THIS TRAGIC FEELING AND HAS HIGH INSTITUTIONAL DUTIES, FEEL AS WELL RESPONSIBLE. WE GAVE TANGIBLE HELP BECAUSE WE KNEW THAT WAS WHAT THE PEOPLE OF MILAN WANTED US TO DO. WE KNEW WE WERE INTERPRETING THE WISHES OF THE WHOLE CITY, OF EACH CITIZEN – TO EACH OF US, THE LOSS WE EXPERIENCED A YEAR AGO WAS A PERSONAL LOSS. ON THAT MORNING, EACH OF US LOST A PART OF OURSELVES. WE REALISED JUST HOW VULNERABLE EVEN MILAN CAN BE. A VULNERABILITY THAT MANIFESTED ITSELF, TRAGICALLY, AT ONE OF THE CITY’S LANDMARKS – A CENTRE OF TRADE, OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS, OF LIFE. WE WILL BE ABLE TO OVERCOME THIS SENSE OF BEREAVEMENT IF JUSTICE IS DONE, IF WE STAND UNITED, IF WE LEARN SOMETHING FROM THIS TRAGIC EVENT, IN ORDER TO AVOID OTHER TRAGEDIES. ONE OF THE PHRASES WRITTEN IN THE BOOK DEDICATED TO THE BEECH WOOD, WHERE WE ARE NOW, SAYS, VERY SIMPLY, “LET’S HOLD HANDS”. IT’S A WONDERFUL THOUGHT. I THINK IT WAS THE IDEA BEHIND THE CREATION OF THE COMMITTEE OF THE VICTIMS’ FAMILIES. A VERY WORTHY INITIATIVE, CREATED SO AS TO GUARANTEE THAT INVESTIGATIONS WILL BE CARRIED OUT UNERRINGLY. BUT IT IS ALSO A WAY OF NOT BEING ALONE, OF FINDING AND GIVING COMFORT. TODAY OUR THOUGHTS ARE WITH ALL THOSE, ITALIAN AND NON-ITALIAN, WHO DIED ON 8TH OCTOBER LAST YEAR. LIVES WHICH COULD HAVE BEEN SPARED, WHICH WERE TORN FROM THEIR LOVED ONES. WE ARE CLOSE TO THEIR FAMILIES, TO THOSE WHO STRUGGLE, DAY AFTER DAY, TO GO ON LIVING EVEN THOUGH THOSE THEY HELD DEAR ARE NO LONGER WITH THEM. AND WE ARE CLOSE TO THOSE WHO WERE BORN IN THE AFTERMATH: THE CHILDREN WHO WERE YET TO BE BORN WHEN THE TRAGEDY HAPPENED, WHO HAD TO BEGIN THEIR WAY THROUGH LIFE WITHOUT THE SUPPORT OF ONE OF THEIR PARENTS. THE SAYING “THE HEART CHERISHES” IS TRUE. OUR HEARTS CHERISH THE SMILE OF THOSE WHO ARE NO LONGER WITH US, THEIR STRENGTH, THE HAPPY TIMES SPENT TOGETHER. THE HEART KEEPS THESE MEMORIES, TOGETHER WITH THE PHYSICAL AND MORAL PAIN CAUSED BY OUR LOSS. WE ARE HERE TO REMEMBER. IT WOULD BE IMPOSSIBLE TO FORGET. MILAN WILL ALWAYS BEAR THE SCARS OF THIS ABSURD TRAGEDY AND WILL ALWAYS CHERISH THE MEMORY OF YOUR LOVED ONES. NOW WE HAVE TO FIND AN EXPLANATION OF WHAT HAPPENED, FIND THOSE RESPONSIBLE AND ENSURE THAT SIMILAR DISASTERS NEVER HAPPEN AGAIN. AND IT IS YOU, THE FAMILIES, THOSE MOST AFFECTED, WHO GIVE US COURAGE. YOU ARE THE DRIVING FORCE BEHIND SO MANY UNDERTAKINGS, FROM THE 8TH OCTOBER COMMITTEE TO THESE TREES, TO THE BOOK YOU ENTITLED “THE RING OF TIME”. WE ASK YOU TO NEVER GIVE UP. WE ASK TO BE NEAR YOU AND WE ASK YOU TO BE NEAR US; TO HOLD OUR HAND, SO WE MAY ALL – AS CARDINAL MARTINI SAID – WALK THROUGH TRAGEDY WITHOUT LOSING HOPE.