Who would have told that? If I had not passed from there, where it was still standing, this would have been a story that I could not tell. His bigger brother, the Berlin wall, more popular and somehow more important, lasted less: “only” 28 years. However, did you know that also Italy had a wall dividing the East from the West? This less popular wall was far more long-living and it survived until 2004. That sad wall with its sentry boxes divided Europe and crossed a border town of Friuli Venezia Giulia region: Gorizia.
Gorizia is a town that was under the Austro-Hungarian Empire, later on conquered by the Italians during the First World War and then divided in two parts after the second one. On one side the “West” Gorizia under Italian flag and on the other side the “East” Gorizia, called Nova Gorica (New Gorizia), under Yugoslavian flag. In-between a wall. A town sadly divided.
This town has seen many troubles along its history. During the WWI it was the scene of extremely cruel and inconceivable fighting. It is estimated that only in that area, only on the Italian side, not less than 50 thousands soldiers died. This is the reason why an old song intones with anger “Oh Gorizia you are damned!”
But today something has changed and it is like this, following up the story of the previous post, that I met my Slovenian friend, Nina, in Transalpina Square. There, in the middle of the square there is the border between Italy and Slovenia. Not any more a wall but white tiles and a plate in the middle to remember the long life of the wall 1947 – 2004.
On 2004, Slovenia became a member state of the European Union making useless that sad wall who divided two communities. Another border that loses its meaning of division to become a mere change of jurisdiction. Another wall pulled down.
Since more than fifty years now, on the ashes of two world wars, men tried to build up, to heal the wounds, creating Europe. A Union of 28 States. If Europe would have existed during my Gran-Grandfather times, him, and all the people like him, could have walked through that border as I’m doing it today as citizen of 28 States. Without internal borders. Just a passage from a State to another but without sentry boxes, controls or ethnic tensions. Only a panel giving the “welcome”. Yes, I crossed the border feeling home.
Could you imagine that border one hundred years ago? Destroyed homes, all over fields without trees, while men against other men were forced to fight between themselves under the submachine fire, bombs and deadly gases.
After the WWI arrived the second one that has deeply involved this region of Friuli Venezia Giulia. Before fascism to forbid people of Slovenian origin to talk in their language and to keep their Slovenian surnames, then the tragedy of the “Foibe” wanted by Tito (“Foibe” are karst pots. Here civilians were tied up by the partisans one to the other in a line on the edge. Than the communist partisans were used to shoot one or two persons that, consequentially, were falling down dragging all the other still alive into the hole). Other men against other men. In 1947 the wall. I can imagine that wall during wintertime. Sad, gloomy, sentry boxes, soldiers here and soldiers there while at the television the news were about naval blocks, tension strategy and nuclear threads.
In the meantime, Europe was going ahead. Men believing and building. The Erasmus project was finally provided and so young university students started to travel across the borders. In this way I met Nina and like her, many others that are learning new languages, new cultures, that are able to adapt to many different environments and that are refusing any division.
During 2004 Slovenia joined EU and after more than a century of fighting that wall, who lasted half a century, was pulled down. Half a century of people divided and oppressed freedom of movement was finally changing. Today there is still who would like to divide, to build up walls and destroy all the effort that has been done.
I wish that Europe will keep on with strength! To destroy a bridge is far more easy and fast than building it up. Europe builds bridges and we must keep it clear in our minds.
My Car is now parked in Transalpina Square, I see Nina, we hug knowing that years ago that hug would have been impossible.
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