The "Gardens of the Righteous Worldwide" (http://www.gariwo.net) is an international project being promoted in Italy by a committee of intellectuals to highlight the experiences of all those men and women of the 20th century who tried to react to crimes against humanity.

First step of the project is the International Conference

There is always an option to say “yes” or “no”: the Righteous against the genocides of Armenians and Jews

which will be held in Padua, Italy, from November 30 to December 2.

The onference is promoted by Cultural Department of the Padua City Council, University of Padua, Gardens of the Righteous Worldwide Orginizing Committee

PROGRAM

DAY 1

November 30, 9.30am – Sala dei Giganti (Liviano)

Opening remarks
Giuliano Vassalli, former President of the Constitutional Court
Giovanni Marchesini, Magnificent Rector of Padua University
Giustina Destro, Mayor of Padua
Giuliano Pisani, Councillor for Culture

Chairman: Siobhan Nash-Marshall (University of St. Thomas, Minneapolis)

Opening lecture:
Gabriele Nissim (historian, Milan):The universal value of the concept of 'the Righteous' as regards 20th century genocide

Antonia Arslan (University of Padua): Aspects of the 'Righteous' in Armenian culture

Discussion

3pm
Chairman: Marcello Flores (University of Siena)

Mordechai Paldiel (President of the Department of the Righteous of Yad Vashem, Israel): Les critères d’évaluation pour l’attribution du titre de “Juste” par la Commission de Yad Vashem

Lucien Lazare (Historian, member of the Department of the Righteous of Yad Vashem, Israel) La bonté humaine hors-la-lois face à la barbarie légale

Coffee break

Raymond Kévorkian, (Université la Sorbonne, Paris): Pour une tipologie des “Justes” dans l’Empire Ottoman face au génocide des Arméniens

Carla Tonini (University of Bologna): The exceptional case of Zofia Kossak: the Polish “antisemite” who saved the Jews

Discussion

DAY 2

December 1, 9.30am – Sala dei Giganti (Liviano)

Chairman: Francesco M. Cataluccio (essayist, Milan)

Laura Boella (University of Milan): Indomitable hearts. The passion and deeds of those who preserve their “humanity in dark times”

Nadia Neri (psychologist, analyst, Rome): Etty Hillesum: extreme compassion, the exemplary response of a victim in the face of extreme evil

Coffee break

Testimony

Franco Perlasca, on the figure of his father Giorgio Misha Wegner, on the figure of his father Armin Theophil Istvàn Bibò and Judith Bibò, on the figure of their father and father-in-law Istvàn

Discussion

3pm
Chairman: Riccardo Chiaberge (journalist, “Il Sole 24 ore”, Milan)

Yves Ternon (historian, Paris): La vérité refusée: étude comparative de la négation de la Shoah et du génocide arménien

Susan Zuccotti (essayist, New York):
The Clergy, the Vatican, and the Rescue of Jews in German-Occupied Italy
Coffee break

Hilmar Kaiser (Istituto Universitario Europeo, Fiesole): A Righteous person for the Armenians: Beatrice Rohner"

Boghos Levon Zekiyan (University of Venice): Reflections on the semantic transposition of the concept of the “Righteous” in the context of the Armenian “Metz Yeghèrn”

Pietro Kuciukian (essayist, member of the Union of Armenians in Italy): The plan to set up an international committee for the “Righteous for the Armenians”.

Discussion
Cocktail in the Sala dei Giganti
Concert by Vladimir Ugorski at the Teatro Verdi

DAY 3

December 2, 8.30am – “Supercinema” theater, Via Emanuele Filiberto Film "Destinazione il nulla" (Destination zero) on the figure of a Righteous person for the Armenians. Introduced by Carlo Massa.

9.30am
Round Table:
Analogies and differences in the concept of 'the Righteous' in some 20th century genocides and in crimes against humanity: the Armenian genocide, the Shoah, the gulags, ethnic cleansing in the former Yugoslavia.

Chairman: Gianni Scalia (Siena University)
With the participation of Svetlana Broz (essayist, Sarajevo), Constantin Simirad (mayor of Jasi, Rumania), Victor Zaslavsky (LUISS, Rome), Agopik Manoukian (sociologist, President of the Union of Armenians in Italy) and Stefano Levi della Torre (University of Milan)

Closing address by Gabriele Nissim (coordinator of the Organizing Committee)

We would appreciate it if scholars and researchers who have made genocide a subject of their studies will participate in our initiative. The program is posted on www.gariwo.net with all the related material.