The European Day of the Righteous is a celebration established in 2012 by the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...

to commemorate those who have stood up against crimes against humanity and

totalitarism Totalitarianism is a form of government and a political system that prohibits all opposition parties, outlaws individual and group opposition to the state and its claims, and exercises an extremely high if not complete degree of control and regul ...

with their own

moral responsibility In philosophy, moral responsibility is the status of morally deserving praise, blame, reward, or punishment for an act or omission in accordance with one's moral obligations. Deciding what (if anything) counts as "morally obligatory" is a ...

. By this celebration the concept of Righteous as worked out by

Yad Vashem Yad Vashem ( he, יָד וַשֵׁם; literally, "a memorial and a name") is Israel's official memorial to the victims of the Holocaust. It is dedicated to preserving the memory of the Jews who were murdered; honoring Jews who fought against th ...

is broadened to all genocide cases and forms of totalitarianism thanks to the commitment of

Moshe Bejski Moshe Bejski (, 29 December 1921 – 6 March 2007) was a Polish-born Israeli Supreme Court Justice and President of Yad Vashem's Righteous Among the Nations Commission. After surviving the Holocaust with the help of Oskar Schindler, Bejski imm ...

. The European day of the Righteous is celebrated every year on 6 March, the anniversary of Moshe Bejski's death.

History

The call for the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been de ...

and the Council of Europe to set up a European day in the memory of the Righteous came from a hundred prominent Italian and European personalities of the world of culture under the aegis of non-profit association Gariwo, the forest of the Righteous. It soon received the support of important institutions such as the Presidency of the Republic of Poland, the Václav Havel foundation, the association

Libera Libera may refer to: * Libera (mythology), a Roman goddess of fertility * Libera (choir), a boy vocal group from London * ''Libera'' (film), a 1993 comedy film * "Libera" (song), a song by Italian artist Mia Martini * ''Libera'' (gastropod), a ...

founded by father

Luigi Ciotti Luigi Ciotti OMRI (born in Pieve di Cadore ( province of Belluno), September 10, 1945), is an Italian priest belonging to the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Turin, deeply involved in the fight against illegality and organized crime such as the Mafi ...

and many other influent entities from all over Europe. The most famous signatories include

Umberto Eco Umberto Eco (5 January 1932 – 19 February 2016) was an Italian medievalist, philosopher, semiotician, novelist, cultural critic, and political and social commentator. In English, he is best known for his popular 1980 novel ''The Name of th ...

Dario Fo Dario Luigi Angelo Fo (; 24 March 1926 – 13 October 2016) was an Italian playwright, actor, theatre director, stage designer, songwriter, political campaigner for the Italian left wing and the recipient of the 1997 Nobel Prize in Literature. ...

Daniel Goldhagen Daniel Jonah Goldhagen (born June 30, 1959) is an American author, and former associate professor of government and social studies at Harvard University. Goldhagen reached international attention and broad criticism as the author of two controver ...

and many others. Written Declaration n. 3/2012 was presented on 16 January 2012 by Hons.

Gabriele Albertini Gabriele Albertini (born 6 July 1950 in Milan) is an Italian politician. Biography In 1974 he Graduated in Law from the University of Milan. He was the Manager of ''Albertini Cesare Spa'', a company working in the aluminium pressure die casting ...

, Lena Kolarska-Bobinska, Niccolò Rinaldi, David-Maria Sassoli and defines the aims of the European day of the Righteous in the following way: The European day of the Righteous was approved by the European Parliament on 10 May 2012 with 388 signatures.

Celebrations

The activities related to the Righteous are supported at the international level by Gariwo, the forest of the Righteous, the Garden of the Righteous for the Armenians in

Yerevan Yerevan ( , , hy, Երևան , sometimes spelled Erevan) is the capital and largest city of Armenia and one of the world's oldest continuously inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Yerevan is the administrative, cultural, and i ...

, the writer, founder of NGO Gariwo Sarajevo and activist for civil courage Svetlana Broz who is struggling to create a Garden of the Righteous in

Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ; cyrl, Сарајево, ; ''see names in other languages'') is the capital and largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 275,524 in its administrative limits. The Sarajevo metropolitan area including Sarajevo ...

and such figures as the Righteous and witness to the Rwanda genocide Yolande Mukagasana.

2012

Festa dei Giusti al Teatro Parenti di Milano

*The heritage of

Václav Havel Václav Havel (; 5 October 193618 December 2011) was a Czech statesman, author, poet, playwright, and former dissident. Havel served as the last president of Czechoslovakia from 1989 until the dissolution of Czechoslovakia in 1992 and then ...

Charter 77 Charter 77 (''Charta 77'' in Czech and Slovak) was an informal civic initiative in the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic from 1976 to 1992, named after the document Charter 77 from January 1977. Founding members and architects were Jiří Něm ...

and the European day of the Righteous on 8 February 2012 in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and List of cities in the Czech Republic, largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 milli ...

. Conference with such prestigious hosts as Milan Horáček, Czech-German politicians and former Member of the European Parliament, the signatory of Charter 77 and philosopher Daniel Kroupa, the member of the Charter Pavel Bratinka.

Gabriele Nissim Gabriele Nissim (born 1950) is an Italian journalist, historian and essayist whose works discuss Eastern Europe. Biography In 1982, Nissim founded ''L'Ottavo Giorno'' (The Eighth Day), an Italian magazine about the dissent in the Eastern Europea ...

presented for the first time in the Czech Republic the secret documentary ''The youths of anti-politics'' about Havel and Charter 77 that he himself secretly shot in 1986 in Prague. *The Party for the Righteous on 6 March 2012 at Teatro Franco Parenti of

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

in which the tales of the witnesses and the speeches by exponents of the worlds of culture and art alternated to the screening of footage and documentaries and the readings from Gabriele Nissim's recent book, ''La Bontà Insensata''. *Concert of the Righteous on 30 March 2012 in

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

. The concert, to which among others el the Italian Ambassador to Poland H.E. Riccardo Guariglia, former dissident

Adam Michnik Adam Michnik (; born 17 October 1946) is a Polish historian, essayist, former dissident, public intellectual, and editor-in-chief of the Polish newspaper, ''Gazeta Wyborcza''. Reared in a family of committed communists, Michnik became an opponen ...

and actress

Maja Komorowska Maja Komorowska-Tyszkiewicz (born 23 December 1937) is a Polish film actress. She has appeared in over 35 films since 1970. Selected filmography * ''Family Life'' (1971) * ''A Woman's Decision'' (1975) * ''Budapest Tales'' (1976) * ''Spiral'' ...

have assisted, was performed by pianist

Janusz Olejniczak Janusz Olejniczak (; born 2 October 1952 in Wrocław) is a Polish classical pianist and actor. Career Olejniczak began playing piano at the age of six. He studied under Luiza Walewska, Ryszard Bakst and Zbigniew Drzewiecki in Warsaw and Łód ...

playing music by

Frédéric Chopin Frédéric François Chopin (born Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin; 1 March 181017 October 1849) was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist of the Romantic period, who wrote primarily for solo piano. He has maintained worldwide renown as a leadin ...

, and

Gaetano Liguori Gaetano (anglicized ''Cajetan'') is an Italian masculine given name. It is also used as a surname. It is derived from the Latin ''Caietanus'', meaning "from ''Caieta''" (the modern Gaeta). The given name has been in use in Italy since medieval pe ...

.''"Un concerto per non dimenticare le radici della Foresta dei Giusti"''

la Repubblica ''la Repubblica'' (; the Republic) is an Italian daily general-interest newspaper. It was founded in 1976 in Rome by Gruppo Editoriale L'Espresso (now known as GEDI Gruppo Editoriale) and led by Eugenio Scalfari, Carlo Caracciolo and Arnoldo ...

2013

Milan, leader of the initiatives for the first European day of the Righteous, is an inspirational source for Europe and starts the celebrations which will also be held in Brussels, Warsaw, Prague, Sarajevo and St. Petersburg. Numerous are also the Italian town which have joined the event with their own initiatives, from Brescia to Padua, from Monza to Tolentino.

Tree of the European day of the Righteous

As a graphic element for the initiatives of 6 March a tree has been created which is formed by the keywords of the day. Albero dei Giusti

References

External links

European day of the Righteous on Facebook
{{Commons category, European day of the Righteous International observances March observances Recurring events established in 2012 2012 establishments in Europe