Basovizza Foibe Memorial Vandalised

Basovizza: A memorial dedicated to the victims of the Foibe massacres, which involved mass killings and deportations by Tito’s Yugoslav Partisans targeting Italians in regions extending from the Trieste area in Italy’s Friuli Venezia Giulia to the Istrian peninsula and Dalmatia in Croatia during and immediately after World War II, was discovered vandalized on Saturday.

According to Ansa News Agency, the Basovizza Foiba memorial, located near Trieste, was defaced with graffiti bearing the messages ‘Trst je nas’ (Trieste is ours) and two other statements in Slovenian. This act of vandalism occurred just two days before Italy commemorates Foibe Remembrance Day.

The massacres involved victims being thrown into Foibe, which are natural pit-like karst sinkholes predominantly found in Friuli Venezia Giulia and the Slovenian part of Istria. Many victims were thrown into these sinkholes, sometimes while still alive. The Basovizza Foiba itself was originally a mineshaft.

It is estimated that around 15,000 Italians,
many associated with Fascism, were tortured or killed by Yugoslav communists who controlled the Istrian peninsula during the war’s final two years. The exact number of victims remains uncertain, partly due to the destruction of local population records by Tito’s forces to conceal their actions. Many Italians were also compelled to flee their homes during these events.

Italy only established Foibe Remembrance Day in 2004, as the tragic events were largely ignored in postwar years by anti-Fascist forces.