The book “The Letter to Hitler” (“La Lettera a Hitler”), which is devoted to great German philanthropist Armin Wegner, was presented during a presentation held in Rome on October 15, reports the RA MFA press service.

The book presents Armin Wegner’s actions against the Armenian Genocide and the Jewish Holocaust and was written by President of the GARIWO (Garden of Righteous people) NGO Gabriele Nissim.

 The presentation was organized by the GARIWO and Briancircle non-governmental organizations of Italy. Among the speakers were Armenia’s Ambassador to Italy Sargis Ghazaryan, leader of the Jewish community of Italy Renzo Gattegna, journalist and publicist Gian Antonio Stella and cultural attaché of the German Embassy in Rome Stefan Schneider, as well as correspondent for L’Espresso newspaper Vlodek Goldcorn, Michele Wegner (son of Armin Wegner) and Gabriele Nissim.

In his speech, Ambassador Sargis Ghazaryan said it was important for the Armenians and the Jews, as nations having survived genocide, “to fill with their struggle the gap that opened as a result of indifference.” He mentioned that it was the indifference towards the Armenian Genocide that served as an opportunity for perpetration of the Holocaust and expressed regret that “the crimes against humanity haven’t remained in history books and form a part of our reality today.” Ambassador Sargis Ghazaryan also condemned all the attempts that all Turkish governments have been successively making to deny and distort historical facts.

Both Ambassador Sargis Ghazaryan and the speakers talked about Armin Wegner as a person who fought against genocides of the 20^th century and was concerned about the destinies of the Jews, Armenians and other nations.

In his speech, Vlodek Goldcorn mentioned that it was also thanks to people like Armin Wegner and Franz Verfel that “cracked the wall of indifference” towards the Armenian Genocide and added that the Jews would read Verfel’s “The Forty Days of Musa Dagh” during the days of the rebellion in the ghettos of Warsaw.

Actress Manuela Kusterman read excerpts from the book “The Letter to Hitler” during the event.

Among those attending the book presentation were Italian public, political and cultural figures, members of the Jewish and Armenian communities of Italy, as well as mass media representatives.

Italian mass media outlets provided wide coverage of the event.