Something to remember

During a week from 13th until 17th January 2020 “KiVA” project took place at our school.

During the “KiVa Week”, the S6 Sociology students together with our teachers prof. Cervini, prof. Carozza and councillor Digangi had visited and discussed tolerance and respect with the S1-4 class students.

This activity took place during the religion and ethics classes. It was a moment to share views and to see how we could foster a better atmosphere at school. Self-respect, respect of others, tolerance of different views and tolerance of differences in general should allow us to create a better community at school. In many classes students also discussed issues of xenophobia and migration, attitudes in the current society and what could be learned from the past.

Today, the 27th January, is also the 75th anniversary to remember the victims of Shoah. In Hebrew, the world Shoah means the “destruction” and it became a word referring to a sad historic moment of the Holocaust during the WWII.

Six million Jewish children, women and men were murdered, as well as millions of innocent people, among them hundreds of thousands of Roma, persecuted due to their ethnicity.

We cannot change the history, but we can learn from the past.

If you would like to know more, the members of the school's library committee have selected several books in different languages that will reveal you hidden aspects. For example, the book "Codice Nome Verity" about two women spies who were fighting Nazis and their supportive friendship; "The Boy in a Stripped Pyjamas"which tells a touching story about a friendship of a Nazi general son with a Jewish boy in the concentration camp; "Charlotte" a biographical novel about the German artist Charlotte Salomon who died in Auschwitz, and many more. Just pass by the school's library and take a look at the selection on the shelf "topics of the month".

If you like movies there is another way to find out more about this historical period. "A Woman in Gold" (video trailer in English and in Italian) tells a real story which has shaken a world recently: an American of Austrian Jewish origin wanted to get back from Austria a portrait of her aunt, which was taken away by Nazis from her rich family. It is also a story of a political and legal fight as the portrait was a symbol of Austria and everyone would go to see this painting in gold by Klimt. The movie underpins history, politics, art, modern times and flash back to the past.

"The Monuments Men" is another famous movie (with George Clooney, Matt Damon, and other well known actors, trailer in Italian) tells the story about seven art historians that got permission from the President Roosevelt to join the military troops at the end of the war and to save historic and artistic patrimony that risked to be destroyed forever.

Europe, and the World, is diverse and it is our richness of cultures, customs, traditions, languages, and values is what makes us unique. Respecting minorities and all kind of diversity around us, protecting freedom of religion and freedom of expressions is part of European values. We start at school.

Thanks to all who took part in KiVA week!