Florence: “Could this happen again?”

The Gen Verde is preparing a tour of Spain, and in the meantime they participate at an event with thousands of youths, on the Day of Remembrance.

“Together with personalities from the world of politics and culture, we were 9000, glued to our seats –so wrote the Gen Verde at the conclusion of the event - in front of holocaust images of World War II concentration camps. This event took place on 26^th January in Florence, at the Nelson Mandela Forum. From the bare stage, testimonies were given by persons who survived the Shoah.” They were open wounds that remind us of today’s victims of genocide, violence, and discrimination.

Thus, with the title of the meeting “We are sons and daughters of Eichmann?” the organizers sought to make us ask ourselves “could this happen again?” This was the fifth edition, and this initiative was aimed at the High School students of all the Tuscan provinces, and was held on the eve of Remembrance Day, 27^th January, a date that is remembered in many European countries.

Recently, even the city of Florence was the scene of episodes of ethnic intolerance, and for this reason the President of the region, stressed and asked those present to commit themselves, by beginning for example, to banish from our common language expressions that are offensive towards cultures and peoples that are different from us.

The Gen Verde, in collaboration with a multi-ethnic orchestra from Arezzo, was entrusted the conclusion of the event with songs and choreographies that gave witness to reciprocity and that the exchange of diverse cultures is possible. The youth present in this event followed the whole event in silence and respect and this made it clear that such atrocity against humankind will “never happen again.”

In spring 2012, new horizons await the Gen Verde: the first is Spain, where the group will be on a tour from the end of March up to the mid May: starting off from Jerez, to Granada and then Jaen - while other stops are being confirmed- with the show “Maria”. For more information: www.genverde.it