Italy for the first time held a day of memory of partisan atrocities and the resettlement of Italian citizens from the Slovenian and Croatian coastal regions on 10 February. Earlier in the week, millions of viewers watched a film on Italian state television that graphically portrayed communist atrocities against ethnic Italians.
The film, "Il cuore nel pozzo" (Heart in a Pit), drew a sharp protest from the Slovenian WWII veterans, who said the film was more about science-fiction than truth and part of a wider plot to brainwash the people of Italy and alter history. In a reluctant response, the Slovenian Foreign Ministry said that a debate on Slovenian-Italian relations could not be based on a film. "I do not think it is good that emotions are being stirred in an imprudent manner about things that happened ages ago," Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel said in his response. "I would be glad if Slovenian artists made films about history, so that we could have a constructive debate on the basis of Slovenian works of art, Slovenian views... A constructive debate is necessary, but I would not want to react to every single thing that happens," Rupel said. His view about the Slovenian "lack of self-reflection" was echoed by Culture Minister Vasko Simoniti. "A good film about what happened during and after WWII could be made in Slovenia as well, and this would neutralize to some extent what is happening now," he said.
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