The educational project at “Dante Alighieri” school of Olgiate Olona
In order to provide continuity and sightedness to the memory of June 26, 1959, an educational project has been started in 2010 thanks to the intuition of Alberto Colombo supported by Beato Contardo Ferrini Institute and by the Municipality of Olgiate Olona. The project is addressed to the students in the eighth-grade of Dante Alighieri school and consists of: a multimedia conversation in the classroom about the historical fact and the commemorative events, dialog with the students, screening of the video of song Olgiate Olona, 26 Giugno 1959 composed by Nicola Puddu; production of a work written in Italian language follows. The works in poetry and prose are received anonymous; then they are selected and judged by a jury outside the school; the most deserving works - those which best reflect the historical fact and the commemorative events - are rewarded during the commemoration of June the 26. Because of their exceptional nature, some works received a Special award offered personally by Alberto Colombo with the authorization of Olgiate Olona mayor.
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Commemoration of June 26, 2012 - Rebecca Taldo, first classified ex aequo with Marco Bargna and Luca Tamburin
Commemoration of June 26, 2012 - Marco Bargna and Luca Tamburin, first classified ex aequo with Rebecca Taldo
Commemoration of June 26, 2012 - Giulia Omenigrandi, third classified
Works awarded school year 2011-2012
The educational project in memory of the plane crash was addressed to all the students in eighth grade of Dante Alighieri school. The following are the translations of the works rewarded during the commemoration of June 26, 2012.
First classified ex aequo, the elaborates in prose
Il canto melodioso della morte by REBECCA TALDO and
26 giugno 1959 by MARCO BARGNA e LUCA TAMBURIN:
Il canto melodioso della morte
(the melodious chant of death)
I died by mistake, I died as a hero, I died with honor without being a hero. I died in a red puddle of macabre pain, with the acrid smell of the ground announcing my end. I died without dreams, I died without hope, I died in a fiery hell without my family. I died with a pale blue over my head, while helpless dying poplar trees watched the sad scene with their branches glued to infinity. Only sorrow and resignation in the faces of relatives. The daisies and bluebells weep for lost smiles and a flower still cries a bitter drop of despair. A wreath of bright flowers placed over sixty-nine small coffins to render the bitterness of death less dramatic. Many honors, no brave action, but a victory. Victory of having shaken the depressed hearts and resigned minds of relatives and people. Victory of having made clear how the kindness, friendship and compassion are making the world go round. Too many tears have already been shed and this agonizing death valley will keep forever - among poplars and monuments - the dreams and hopes of those who died away from home. There - illuminated by golden rays of light filtering from the trees and surrounded by twittering of robins - is the melodious chant of death. The unhealthy air of anguish and despair has been buried by a tumultuous civilization of compassion and solidarity. Not to forget who, what and how we are, we bury tears and chants of farewell to make way for love and laughter. Just a pure fatal casualness which stopped the breath of seventy lives and shook the hearts of eight different countries. The fear has turned into a need to remember. Remember faces, laughter, lives, dreams ... remember thoughts, assumptions, desires, tragedies ... Thank you, thank you for not having forgotten, thanks for the generosity and love you gave us, thanks for having honored us and cried, thanks for being able to smile after a tragedy, thank you for calling us “immortals”. This is how we continue to live in your hearts and in your thoughts.
26 giugno 1959
(June 26, 1959)
Dear Mary, I think of you and excitement of your first flight, the days spent together to have a snack, the afternoons spent playing ball and the evenings lying down on the grass looking at the stars. Among other things we had arranged to meet on your return at the airport. Instead it took only a lightning to make seventy innocent lives fly to heaven, seventy stars are lighting up the darkness of the night now. That day the flames raged on Olgiate Olona while the rain was pounding on the roofs of the houses. My little and sweet Mary, I was thinking of you once more while you were already flying to God and I would have been me to squeeze you in a protective hug when you were afraid. We will embrace again... You wait for me up there.
Third classified, the poem Figlio mio by GIULIA OMENIGRANDI:
Figlio mio
(my son)
My son,
I always think back to that day,
that terrible day in June;
do you remember your desire to leave
for Chicago?
But that lightning,
in one heartbeat
snatched you out of my arms
and then broke your desire.
Everything has changed,
I have changed,
I have grown older,
but you, you are always there,
your radiant smile,
as always!
I will never forget,
and I say never,
the form of you wrapped in a cloud,
a cloud of acrid smoke.
But you know, dear son,
I never lost the hope,
hope to see you again one day...
Your memory is alive and will live forever inside of me!
I miss you!
Your mom
Commemoration of June 26, 2012 - Group photo of the students of junior high school rewarded during the commemoration
Documents and articles related to the educational project 2011-2012
July 2012 - Article published in the Municipal newsletter of Olgiate Olona