The annual ceremony organised by the Italian Consulate General in Johannesburg to commemorate the Italian prisoners of war who fell in South Africa during the Second World War took place on 3 November at the Italian military cemetery in Zonderwater, South Africa.
Around 600 people, including civil and military authorities, the presidents of the Johannesburg, Pretoria and Cape Provinces Committees, Italian and South African associations, children and relatives of the prisoners of war, and members of the Italian community, gathered at the site where the largest Allied prison camp stood and where 275 Italian soldiers are now laid to rest. The flag-raising and the Italian and South African national anthems were followed by the laying of wreaths and 'Il Silenzio', played in honour of the fallen. Brigadier General Fulvio Poli, deputy head of the Italian Ministry of Defence's Office for the Protection of Defence Culture and Remembrance, went on a mission to South Africa to participate in the commemoration, and to attend the Armed Forces Day in Pretoria. During the mission, Brigadier General Poli visited the two Italian military shrines in South Africa, in Zonderwater and Pietermaritzburg, and met with the Italian Ambassador Alberto Vecchi, the Consul General in Johannesburg, Emanuela Curnis, and representatives of the South African Prison Department.
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