"We honor the young people who sacrificed their lives for the unity of a people"
"Dear students and dear students,
I am writing to you today, 4 November, on the Day of National Unity and the Armed Forces, because I want to share with you the profound meaning of the anniversary. In fact, today we celebrate a historical and symbolic journey that involves the deepest reasons of the nation, the very meaning of our being a community.
On November 4, 1918, first of all, the armistice signed the day before at Villa Giusti in Padua entered into force, the deed certifying the surrender of the Austro-Hungarian Empire to Italy and, above all, the end of a massacre in which over 600 thousand Italians, mostly young, lost their lives. The Great War was a huge tragedy and in today's celebration we must shun any warlike exaltation, even more so in the face of death and destruction that have returned to haunt the European territory. However, we must honor those young people, those Italians, who in the name of a high and noble ideal (the unity of a people, the conclusion of the Risorgimento), sacrificed their lives. Their memory must lead us to appreciate Peace and Freedom even more deeply".
This is what we read in an open letter addressed to Italian students by the Minister of Education and Merit Giuseppe Valditara on the occasion of the Day of National Unity and the Armed Forces.