79 years after the liberation. “Lager Dora, the factory of death”

To inform the citizens of the choice made by military deportees, who decided to become volunteers of freedom by not adhering to Nazifascism, on Saturday, April 13th, at 3:00 pm, the conference hall of the Bottini dell’Olio Library (Piazza del Luogo Pio) will host a meeting open to the public entitled “Lager Dora, the factory of death. 79 years after the liberation of Mittelbau Dora (Nordhausen)“.

The initiative, promoted by Aned (National Association of Former Deportees in Nazi Camps) – to which President Sergio Mattarella, on February 28, 2024, conferred the Gold Medal for Civil Valor – under the patronage of the Municipality of Livorno, and realized in collaboration with the Fondazione Teatro Goldoni Livorno, takes its cue from the memories of Gherardo Del Nista, a Livornese who, at the age of 25, a conscripted soldier, was taken prisoner and deported to the Dora camp where Von Braun designed and built the V1 and V2 missiles. Gherardo Del Nista remained interned from November 1943 to April 1945.

This tragic experience was recounted by Del Nista and published in 2002 as a supplement to CN – Comune Notizie. 22 years later, the Municipality of Livorno re-proposes the memories of our fellow citizen with a revised and updated edition by Roberto Del Nista, the author’s son.

With Del Nista’s memoir as the thread running through, the meeting on April 13th will feature testimonies and informative documents on the Nazi camp Dora and the screening of the docufilm “Inferno Mittelbau Dora” (2016) by Mary Mirka Milo.

With Roberto Del Nista, Laura Geloni and Massimo Fornaciari, respectively president and vice president of Aned – Pisa section, will also participate.

At the end of the meeting, a brief musical intervention is scheduled: the string quintet of the Teatro Goldoni orchestra composed of Aurora Golfarini (violin), Marta Boschis (violin), Marta Degl’Innocenti (viola), Lavinia Golfarini (cello), and Tommaso Menicagli (double bass), will perform the piece Adagio for Strings, Op. 11, by Samuel Barber. Due to its particularity, Barber’s music will be briefly introduced by Paolo Noseda, musical consultant of the Teatro Goldoni.

All participants will receive a complimentary copy of the memoir “Dora, when life conquers death” by Gherardo Del Nista.

Free entry.