Journeys of memory to never forget: here's how to reach and why to visit Binario 21 in Milan, Memorial Foundation of the Shoah.
One Sunday a few months ago I went to Milan to visit the 21 track Shoah Memorial Foundation, located in the spaces below the Central Station.
The place was not chosen by chance, as it is there that between 1943 and 1945, thousands of Jews and opponents were loaded onto freight cars and sent to various extermination camps such as Auschwitz- Birkenau or towards Italian collection fields such as those of Fossoli e Bolzano.
You will experience very strong emotions, probably dismay, anger and sadness.
This memorial was strongly desired by Liliana Segre, an 88-year-old woman who was captured at just 13 and, sadly, lost her beloved father.
I recommend you do the guided tour, the guides are very good and will tell you this bad piece of our history.
How the guided tour works
The first thing that welcomes you is a wall with the word "INDIFFERENCE”Written in large letters, to remind us that, between 1943 and 1945the indifference of the people had allowed fifteen wagons to depart from that track for the gas chambers.
The hardest part, in fact, was when the guide made us get on one of the wagons that was used to transport people and explained that everyone was crammed there, that the journey lasted days, that someone could not survive for the terrible conditions.
Do you think the January 30 1944 a convoy headed for Auschwitz-Birkenau and, that day, only 22 of the 605 deported people survived.
What I have tried is indescribable.
The Wall of Names
As soon as you get out of the wagon, you will see a series of names on the wall: that is the "Wall of Names"
The names marked belong to the people loaded on the convoys on December 6, 1943 and January 30, 1944; the 27 names highlighted are those of only surviving people.
Another very touching moment was when we saw the videos of those who were saved, people who in these camps have lost entire families, men and women who have been carrying this pain with them for years. Hearing their stories was very moving.
Track 21
Il 21 track it is the only place where deportations took place Europe, to have remained intact. Visiting it is a way to NEVER forget the horror that too many have experienced.
To find out the costs, see access times and book, visit this site.
How to get there
Reaching it is simple: leave the station, walk along Piazzale Luigi di Savoia, cross the underpass and walk along Via Ferrante Aporti.
To conclude, I bring you a small excerpt from the website that perfectly describes this place:
“The Memorial pays homage to the victims of extermination and represents a living and dialectical context in which to actively rework the tragedy of the Shoah. A place of commemoration, therefore, but also a space to build the future and promote civil coexistence. The Memorial is intended to be, in fact, a place of study, research and comparison: a memorial for those who were there, for those who are now but above all for those who will come. "
