In 2022 and 2023, together with the CPPK Society Center for Psychotherapy and Psychosocial Assistance and the Faculty of Humanities at the University of Primorska, we carried out the project “My Silent Story.” The purpose of the project was to raise awareness of the silenced, painful, and unjust memories of the inhabitants of Istria, the Karst region, and Trieste, which marked the period of World War II and the post-war years on both sides of the border.
The inspiration for the project was the book In the Silence of Memory by Dr. Katja Hrobat Virloget about the post-war exodus of the Italian population from Istria. The project highlighted the impact of silenced traumas on the mental health of individuals and communities.
The collected stories were presented in workshops using artistic and therapeutic approaches and published in the publication Silenced Memories. Memories were collected anonymously via the website, social networks, and by mail, in both Slovene and Italian.
The project was co-funded within the framework of the call “Incentives for Solutions: A Long-Lived Society,” supported by ISKRA – the Network Hub of NGOs of Istria and the Karst, and the Ministry of Public Administration.
You can read the stories from the silence here (in slovenian and italian).
