by Maximiliano Crocamo
Interviews: Trieste Councilor for Culture and Tourism; Gian Paolo Dolso, professor of Public Law at the University of Trieste
A commemorative plaque honoring the 50th anniversary of a landmark trial into Nazi-era crimes was unveiled Thursday in the main atrium of the city’s courthouse, renewing attention to one of Italy’s most harrowing wartime sites, the Risiera di San Sabba.
The ceremony, attended by local officials, judicial authorities and scholars, marked exactly half a century since the 1976 verdict that concluded proceedings against those responsible for atrocities committed at the site during the German occupation from 1943 to 1945.
“This plaque is a reminder of what happened and of the responsibilities tied to those tragic events,” said Giorgio Rossi, Trieste’s councillor for culture and tourism. He emphasized the importance of passing historical memory to younger generations, calling places like the Risiera essential tools of education.
The Risiera, now a national monument, was the only Nazi concentration camp on Italian soil equipped with a crematorium. Thousands of prisoners — including political detainees, partisans and civilians — were killed or deported from the site.
The newly installed plaque, presented in Italian, Slovene and English, commemorates the trial held in the same building from Feb. 16 to April 29, 1976. The proceedings were among the first in Italy to confront crimes committed on its territory during World War II.
The initiative is part of a broader program organized by a civic committee in collaboration with the University of Triesteand the municipality. Events include an ongoing historical exhibition inside the courthouse and an academic conference scheduled for mid-May examining the trial’s legal and historical legacy.
The commemoration also coincides with the 81st anniversary of Italy’s Liberation Day, reinforcing the city’s effort to connect remembrance with contemporary civic responsibility.
