Pula Unveils Monument with 64 Names of Vargarola Victims
On the 80th anniversary of one of the greatest tragedies in the city's history, a new memorial corrects decades of societal neglect and permanently inscribes the names of the fallen.
On the 80th anniversary of one of the greatest tragedies in the city's history, a new memorial corrects decades of societal neglect and permanently inscribes the names of the fallen.
On Tuesday, August 18, 2026, Pula marked the 80th anniversary of the Vargarola tragedy, an explosion that on August 18, 1946, claimed dozens of lives and left an indelible mark on the city's collective memory. The central event of the commemoration was the unveiling and blessing of a new memorial on which the names of 64 officially confirmed victims are now permanently inscribed.
The ceremony began with a boat journey to Vargarola beach, where wreaths were laid in the sea in honor of the victims. This was followed by a Holy Mass in Italian at Pula's Cathedral, led by Father Ivan Petrašić. After the Mass, Father Petrašić blessed the new memorial.
In an emotional speech, Pula's Mayor Peđa Grbin emphasized the importance of a culture of remembrance and reminded attendees that the tragedy had been accompanied by societal neglect for decades. "We have gathered to remember one of the greatest, if not the greatest, tragedies that has ever struck our city," Grbin said, as reported by Glas Istre.
He stressed that the families' pain was met with the community's silence: "That pain was accompanied by forgetting. Not the forgetting of families, not the forgetting of friends, but the forgetting of society and the forgetting of the community." The new memorial, created in agreement with the Italian Community and Deputy Mayor Vito Paoletić, corrects this injustice, in his words.
Italian Ambassador to Croatia Paolo Trichilo stated that even 80 years after the tragedy, many questions about its circumstances remain unanswered, and an officially accepted interpretation still does not exist. "With deep sorrow, I must note that in Pula there was a great suffering of innocent civilians," Trichilo said.
The ambassador emphasized the inseparable connection between Vargarola and the history of the exodus, and welcomed the progress in Croatian-Italian cooperation in recent years. He particularly noted that the City of Pula has taken over the organization of commemorative events and replaced the previous memorial with a new one bearing the victims' names. "The duty of remembrance must be accompanied by the responsibility to look toward the future, especially since Italy and Croatia are friendly states and both members of our common home, the European Union," Trichilo stated.
A particularly emotional moment of the commemoration was the reading of the names of all 64 victims. Accompanied by cellist Fabio Jurić, Lucia Bellaspiga recited the names inscribed on the new monument. The commemoration continued with verses from the poem "Vergarola" by Pula poet Ester Sardoz Barlessi.
Wreaths were laid by representatives of the Embassy of the Italian Republic in Croatia, the General Consulate in Rijeka, the Italian Community in Pula, the Italian Union, the Association of Anti-Fascist Fighters and Anti-Fascists of the City of Pula, AIPI, LCPE, FederEsuli, the Circolo di cultura istro-veneta "Istria", UPT from Trieste, the Istrian County, and the City of Pula. On behalf of the City of Pula, wreaths were laid by Mayor Grbin, Deputy Mayor Vito Paoletić, and City Council President Valter Boljunčić.
Following the commemoration, the exhibition "A Forgotten Tragedy: Vergarolla and Its Hero, Dr. Geppino Micheletti 1946-2026" opened at the City Gallery. The exhibition, provided by the Regional Institute for Istrian, Fiuman, and Dalmatian Culture (IRCI), recalls the humanity of the Pula doctor who, after the explosion, operated and helped the wounded for hours, even though his own children were among the dead.
