by MK
A restored historic train stood on the platforms of Trieste’s central station this Tuesday, 10 February, marking the opening of the third edition of the Treno del Ricordo, or “Train of Memory,” a traveling exhibition dedicated to the legacy of the foibe killings and the postwar exodus of Italian communities from Istria, Fiume, and Dalmatia.
Promoted by Italy’s Ministry for Sport and Youth, the initiative retraces—both physically and symbolically—the routes taken by tens of thousands of people displaced in the aftermath of World War II, when shifting borders and political violence reshaped the eastern Adriatic. Over the next three weeks, the train will cross Italy in 11 stops, from the northeastern frontier to Sicily.
At the inauguration ceremony, organizers emphasized the project’s ambition to move beyond a single day of commemoration. “This is memory that is alive and present all year,” one of the organizers said, framing the train not as a static exhibition but as an ongoing civic exercise.
The train, provided by the Fondazione FS Italiane and the FS Group, contains five carriages transformed into a multimedia exhibition. Visitors encounter archival photographs, historical panels, and narrated texts that reconstruct the context of the foibe and the mass departure of Italian-speaking populations following the war.
Personal belongings carried by the exiles—suitcases, household objects, and fragments of everyday life—form the emotional core of the display. Preserved at Trieste’s Magazzino 18 by the Regional Institute for Istrian-Fiuman-Dalmatian Culture, the objects speak to the abruptness of departure and the loss of home.
New to the 2026 edition is a fifth carriage created in collaboration with the Italian Youth Agency. The space is dedicated to younger generations and features educational materials from “Il Viaggio del Ricordo,” an initiative that brings students to sites associated with the Julian-Dalmatian exodus. Organizers described it as “a journey of memory that honors the experience of exile,” and pointed to a planned Museum of Memory in Rome as the project’s next step.
Caterina Belletti, a member of the board of directors of the FS Group, underscored the symbolic evolution of the train itself. “This year we have five carriages, and the train becomes the symbol,” she said. “Memory must turn into awareness.”
Trieste’s role as the departure point was repeatedly highlighted. Mario Anzil, Friuli Venezia Giulia’s regional councilor for culture, noted how the city’s position has shifted over time. “For years we were the epicenter of tragedy,” he said, “but today we are becoming a center of shared culture.” He added that remembrance requires self-understanding: “Before we connect with others, we must understand ourselves. Ricordo means ‘to bring back to the heart.’”
Luca Ciriani, Italy’s minister for relations with Parliament, reflected on the long silence surrounding the events. “For a long time, we were not supposed to speak about the tragedy of this land,” he said, adding that public recognition has grown in recent years. Italy officially established the Giorno del Ricordo—the Day of Remembrance—only in 2004. “Today, in Rome, everyone is commemorating,” he said, while calling for an end to hatred.
Among the most personal reflections came from Marina Elvira Calderone, Italy’s minister of labor and social policies, whose family were themselves exiles from Istria. “We never spoke about what happened,” she said, describing a silence common among displaced families, “because the pain was too strong.”
Calderone recalled that her mother, now 85, “has always felt Italian, even though she was born in Yugoslavia,” and spoke of returning years later to find only “a piece of a house” where her family once lived. She urged visitors to engage with the exhibition fully. “Visit the Train of Memory, and visit the museum,” she said. “Only then can you understand a painful history that should never be forgotten—finally restored to its dignity and respect.”
After departing Trieste on February 10, the train will continue to Pordenone, Bologna, Pescara, L’Aquila, Rome, Latina, Salerno, and Reggio Calabria, before crossing to Sicily with stops in Palermo and Siracusa. Pordenone and L’Aquila—designated Italy’s Capitals of Culture for 2027 and 2026 respectively—are intended, organizers say, to mark a symbolic passage linking remembrance, identity, and the future.
