On 24 February, on the occasion of “Giorno del Ricordo”, the Italian office of the Council of Europe organized the presentation of the book "La patria perduta. Vita quotidiana e testimonianze sul Centro raccolta profughi Giuliano- Dalmati di Laterina" by author Elio Varutti.
Born in Udine, the writer is an university professor, author of numerous publications on Friulian history. In 2012 he was elected honorary councillor of the Udine Provincial Committee of the Associazione Nazionale Venezia Giulia Dalmazia (ANGVD), becoming its vice-president in 2017.

The story of the Laterina refugee camp had never been explored in history books before.
From 1946 to 1963, it worked as a refugee camp for Italians escaping from Istria, Fiume and Dalmatia. The author describes daily-life experiences and years of confrontation with the local population, until social integration was completed.

Presented by Gianni Oliva, La Stampa journalist, the event was held at the Venice premises of the Council of Europe, and included greetings from the President of the Venice ANVGD Committee Alessandro Cook and an intervention by Silvia Zanlorenzi, councillor of the Association.