The Consul General of Italy in Zurich, Mario Baldi, attended the St. Gallen Cemetery to celebrate National Unity Day and Armed Forces Day by laying a wreath at the monument dedicated to Italian soldiers who have fallen in all wars.
"Today, our thoughts go out to our soldiers present in the various international missions and, in particular, to the more than a thousand men and women engaged under the UN flag as an interposition force between Lebanon and Israel," said Consul General Baldi.
The commemoration, which was attended by the Minister of the Interior of the Canton of St. Gallen, Laura Bucher, was attended by the Alpine Association, the National Carabinieri Association, and a large representation of Italian emigration to Switzerland, a Consulate statement said. "Celebrating the anniversary of 4 November means first of all remembering and honouring the fallen of the First World War, which caused the death of millions of soldiers," recalled Consul General Baldi. "It was a long, painful journey, paved with sacrifice, pain and bereavement. Our history is the fruit of that suffering, whose memory we must preserve. Memory that translates into awareness, first and foremost, of how terrible war is, every war,' he added.
For her part, Minister Bucher recalled the commitment and determination with which the Cantonal and Municipal Authorities of St. Gallen defended the memorial dedicated to the Italian fallen soldiers - which has now become a shared historical and cultural heritage - by authorising its transfer to the city's Monumental Cemetery after the closure of the Italian Consulate.
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