On January 9, the Marciana National Library of Venice hosted the official opening ceremony of the exhibition showcasing photos taken by German writer, advocate Armin Wagner during the days of the Armenian Genocide, as the MFA press service reports.

Among those attending the opening ceremony were representatives of public and political circles of Venice, the consular corps, as well as members of the Armenian and Jewish communities.

The exhibition entitled “Armin T. Wagner: Law for the Armenians and the Jews” was organized by the Marciana National Library of Venice and the Honorary Consulate of the Republic of Armenia in Milan, in association with Marbach German Literary Archives Center, the Center for Armenian Cultural Studies, the Jewish community of Venice and the Union of Armenians of Italy and was held under the patronage of the RA Embassy in Italy and the Italian Ministry of Culture.

The event began with welcoming remarks by RA Ambassador to Italy Sargis Ghazaryan, Director of Marciana National Library of Venice Maurizio Messina and RA Honorary Consul in Milan Pietro Kucukian.

In his speech, Ambassador Ghazaryan attached importance to keeping the memory of the Genocide alive, the fight against denial and the prevention of genocide and, in that sense, considered the implementation of educational programs important. The Ambassador emphasized that denial is the continuation of genocide and mentioned that denial and xenophobia are components of genocide, drawing the people’s attention to Azerbaijan’s anti-Armenian policy.

The speakers at the event were President of the Garden of Righteous People (GARIWO) NGO Gabrielle Nissim, leader of the Jewish community of Venice Paolo Navara Dina, leader of the Armenian community of Italy, Professor Baykar Sivazliyan and the exhibition’s coordinator Anna Maria Samueli.

In their speeches, the speakers attached importance to the need for the fight against genocide and denial. Leader of the Jewish community of Venice Paolo Navara Dina particularly mentioned that the Armenians and the Jews are on the same front in the struggle against denial and xenophobia. In his speech, leader of the Armenian community of Italy, Professor Baykar Sivazliyan praised the fruitful, traditional and longstanding cooperation between the Italian-Armenian community and the Marciana Library and expressed gratitude to the library for its willingness to organize events devoted to Armenian history and culture. Sivazliyan also expressed gratitude to the Jewish community for focusing on Armenian issues. Professor Baykar Sivazliyan emphasized the importance of organizing such exhibitions to keep the memory of the Armenian Genocide alive.

The local mass media provided wide coverage of the event.

The opening ceremony of the exhibition in Venice marked the launch of the series of events dedicated to the 100^th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide in Italy.