Mattmark, 30 agosto 1965. Morti sotto il ghiaccio, vivi nella memoria

Unfortunately, numerous workplace tragedies have affected Italian emigrants over the decades. The disaster that hit the Belluno area hardest occurred on August 30, 1965, in the Canton of Valais, Switzerland. A disaster so violent that, in many towns in the province of Belluno, it has become an image that divides time between the "before Mattmark" and the "after Mattmark." A catastrophe that claimed eighty-eight lives, fifty-six Italians and seventeen from Belluno, a sad record in the death toll. That August 30th was a Monday. At about 2,200 meters above sea level, in a place called Mattmark, Europe's largest earth dam was under construction. People from all over the continent were there. Everything seemed to be proceeding as usual, at least until 5:15 PM, when, in a few moments, everything changed. A brief introduction is in order here: part of the workshops and workers' quarters were located beneath the tongue of an immense glacier, the Allalin, which had already sent out warnings. Warnings that, it seems, had not been heeded. Until, on that very August 30th, the glacier began to move: a block of approximately two million cubic meters of material broke away and began a lethal descent that swept away everything in its path, including people. The last body, that of Costante Renon, from Sagron Mis, a municipality in Trentino, was found only two years later, a testament to the difficulties of the recovery operations, which, in the days immediately following the disaster, were threatened by the danger of further collapses. A never-ending drama, which remained without a culprit. The trials instituted in 1972 to determine responsibility for what happened resulted in the acquittal of all defendants: the disaster was unforeseeable. Not only that. The victims' families were ordered to pay half of the legal costs. Adding insult to injury, the damage was also added. On the occasion of the sixtieth anniversary of the disaster, which occurs in 2025, the Bellunesi nel Mondo Association intends to commemorate what happened with an immersive exhibition featuring photographs, documents, films, and video interviews with survivors and victims' families. This exhibition offers a deeper understanding of what happened through the voices of those who were there, through the words of those whose lives were changed by the disaster. A testimony to keep the memory alive.