Commemorate and remember the victims after 50 years are the two objectives of the exhibition inaugurated in Rome with the title “Mattmark tragedy in the Mountains”.The exhibition and the other commemoration events during the 2015 in Switzerland, Italy, Belgium, etc, are organized by the Mattmark committee 2015.

During the inauguration in the Spadolini Library of the Italian Senate, a touching video of 20 minutes, done with the collaboration of Nicolas Brun and with interviews of survivors and relatives of the victims was also shown. On 30 August 1965, when the terminal part of the Allalingletscher in Switzerland broke off, a tremendous avalanche destroyed the barracks killing 88 workers, 56 Italians, of the Mattmark dam construction site. The official opening of the exhibition saw the presence of various Italian politicians like Sen. Claudio Micheloni, who opened the floor together with Pier Ferdinando Casini, President of the Foreign Affairs Committee in the Italian Senate.
Among the other distinguished speakers MP Valentina Paris, Domenico Mesiano President of the Association Italy-Valais and of the Mattmark Committee 2015; Stéphane Marti, Executive Manager of the Mattmark project 2015 and Sandro Cattacin, Sociology Professor at the Geneva University. In the library hall the opening was also attended by a delegation of relatives of victims and survivors, members of local authorities and associations with few symbolic words of Giancarlo Kessler, Swiss Ambassador in Italy. Sen. Micheloni red at first a message of the newly elected Italian President Sergio Mattarella who underlined the importance of not forgetting “one of the most dramatic episode in the history of the Italian emigration” Adding that “ today and in the past our Italian communities are integrated in the countries who hosted them, giving a contribution in terms of development but also keeping strong the links with Italy.”

The photo exhibition which will be open until the 28th February, received the adhesion of the Italian President and the patronage of the Senate. Thanking the supporting partners from Canton Valais for the contribution, Sen. Micheloni, President of the Committee for the Italians living abroad, remembered that“Our duty here is to honor and remember: remember is the duty of citizens and politicians; the history of emigration is full of words we don’t like: discrimination, xenophobia, killings and the forced migrations after the war. Remember doesn’t mean honor. And with a reference to the tragic events in the Mediterranean sea, he added: We have to stop today the tragedies of
immigration.” Prof. Domenico Mesiano Co-curator of the exhibition presents the next commemorative events, he said: “After Rome, the exposition will travel to Sion and other towns in the Canton Valais and conclude in Brig. We have the plan to exhibit also in Italy and in Brussels to give more a European dimension to the commemoration. At the same time education is key, we will be active in schools because we have to present this story to the younger generations and talk to them about integration. We don’t have to forget then that the Canton Vallais chose the italianità as one of its
founding cultural pillars ” Prof. Stéphane Marti concluded , “We decided to tell this story to testify the double sacrifice of the victims: emigrate and die for the progress of another country.” The words that are better putting a light on this tragedy are the ones of Max Frisch “ We wanted labor force, we got men “