Viola Scalacci, Author at LRE Foundation

We’ve launched the Canadian Trail East Friesland on the Liberation Route Europe, 81 years after liberation

Posted on April 17, 2026April 17, 2026 by Viola Scalacci

On Tuesday, April 14, marking the 81st anniversary of Friesland’s liberation in April 1945, we officially opened the Canadian Trail East Friesland, the new and final section of the Liberation Route Europe Canadian Trail in the region. The route follows the path of the Canadian liberators, all the way to the Wadden Sea.

The inauguration was marked by a powerful symbolic moment: mayors and aldermen from the municipalities of Smallingerland, Opsterland, Ooststellingwerf, Achtkarspelen and Tytsjerksteradiel activated an air-raid siren, echoing the sound that once filled the air during the Second World War.

Along the 75-kilometre route, visitors will encounter 21 war memorials and points of interest, each marked by a Floor Vector of Memory. At every marker, a QR code connects visitors to the specific history of that location, drawing not only on the story of Canadian forces, but on the full breadth of events that unfolded on these very sites during the war. The stories themselves were carefully gathered by volunteers from local historical societies, weaving together the landscape and the memory it holds.

The project was led by the Smelne’s Erfskip Drachten Foundation in collaboration with the LRE Foundation and the five municipalities, bringing together local knowledge and regional commitment to remembrance.

In the footsteps of the Canadian liberators

The Canadian Trail East Friesland follows the advance of Canadian troops as they moved toward the Wadden Sea in April 1945. Their mission was to cut off German forces in Friesland from those in Groningen, gradually isolating them and forcing their surrender.

Along the way, the route passes through places where key moments unfolded – from the forests south of Oosterwolde, where fighting began in early April, to the canal crossings near Burgum, Kootstertille and Augustinusga. The lock complex near Kollumerpomp marks one of the final locations of intense fighting between April 13 and 16.

Today, the landscape tells a layered story. Numerous memorials along the route commemorate the many lives lost in the final days before liberation, including civilians, Allied airmen, and victims of persecution and forced labour.

The Canadian Trail East Fryslân is now available on the Liberation Route Europe app and website, where visitors can explore the route, read all the stories, and plan their own journey through this meaningful landscape.

New LRE Trail in Jersey Sheds Light on Forced Labour Under Nazi Occupation

Posted on April 17, 2026April 17, 2026 by Viola Scalacci

In partnership with Jersey Heritage, we have just launched the new “Forced Labour Camps in Jersey” themed route on the Channel Island of Jersey. This latest addition to the Liberation Route Europe invites visitors and residents alike to explore a lesser-known chapter of the Second World War: the history of forced and slave labour under Nazi occupation.

Tracing the history of forced labour on Jersey

Between the autumn of 1941 and 1944, approximately 6,000 foreign workers were brought to Jersey against their will by the Organisation Todt, responsible for major civil and military construction projects across occupied Europe. These men, and some women, were forced to work under harsh, and even dangerous, brutal conditions on the island.

They were housed in 13 forced labour camps, often located close to construction sites. Today, these locations are the focus of the new route, marked by the first Liberation Route Europe Vectors of Memory ever installed in the Channel Islands. The trail connects each site, offering visitors insights into the stories of the workers.

The labourers were assigned physically demanding and dangerous tasks, including building concrete fortifications, excavating tunnel systems, transporting sand and stone, and unloading materials from barges. They came from across Europe and beyond, including Algeria, Belgium, Czechoslovakia, France, Italy, Morocco, the Netherlands, Poland, Russia, Senegal, Spain, Tunisia and Ukraine. Their experiences varied significantly: workers from Western Europe and North Africa were generally conscripted or forced labourers, receiving limited payment in Occupation Reichsmarks and restricted movement outside working hours under curfew, while Soviet workers from Ukraine, Belarus and Russia were treated as slave labourers, with no pay, minimal rations, no freedom of movement, and systematic violence and abuse. The precise status of Polish workers remains, for now, unclear.

Integrating these sites into the commemorative landscape

This new route embeds these histories, and the experiences of those involved, into the European WWII commemorative landscape, ensuring they are not forgotten.

“The launch of this route is a significant step in acknowledging a painful part of Jersey’s wartime history,” said Emme Johnson, Project Manager at the LRE Foundation. “By marking these sites and sharing the stories of those who suffered here, we hope to foster reflection, awareness and a deeper understanding of the human impact of occupation and forced labour. The installation of Vectors of Memory at these sites is also another step to ensure they remain physicallly represented in Jersey’s landscape”

Plan your visit

This new trail marks the fifth Liberation Route Europe route on Jersey, further strengthening the island’s role within the wider European memory landscape.

The route is fully accessible via the Liberation Route Europe website and mobile app, where visitors can explore all locations, read the stories connected to each site, and plan their journey in advance. For those wishing to experience the trail on the ground, GPX files are also available, making it easy to navigate between the former camp sites at their own pace.

The international exhibition Art of Remembrance arrives in Turin, Italy

Posted on April 7, 2026April 7, 2026 by Viola Scalacci

After opening on 9 March at the House of Nijmegen History in Nijmegen (The Netherlands), the international exhibition Art of Remembrance continues its journey in Turin (Italy), where it will open to the public on Saturday, 18 April at the Polo del ’900.

The exhibition is part of a wider European cooperation project co-funded by the European Union’s Creative Europe programme, in which the LRE Foundation is a key partner among others. It brings together contemporary artistic practices developed through residencies at World War II remembrance sites across Europe.
Free to visit, the exhibition will remain open until 7 May.

On display are works by Rebekka Bauer, Raphaël Dallaporta, Juhana Moisander and Gail Ritchie. Each artist developed their project during a residency hosted by a different European site of memory: the former partisan stronghold of Paraloup in Italy, the Bastogne War Museum, the Sybir Memorial Museum and La Coupole WWII Museum.

In Art of Remembrance, memory is approached as something unstable and continuously reshaped rather than fixed in time. The works highlight perspectives that often remain at the margins, from women’s roles in resistance and survival and intergenerational remembrance, as well as the presence of non-human witnesses such as animals and landscapes. Attention is also given to how trauma is gradually absorbed by bodies and environments, lingering beyond the historical moment.

These reflections take form through a wide range of artistic media, including glass installations, sculptural and organic materials, photography, film, and immersive sound. Each work is rooted in an in-depth process of research and exchange, developed through the artists’ engagement with archives, historians, and local communities during their residencies, allowing the specific context of each site to shape both method and outcome.

Rather than presenting direct representations of wartime events, the exhibition unfolds through suggestion, metaphor, and material presence, encouraging a slow, attentive and emotional encounter with the past.

While the exhibition in Nijmegen engaged with a city deeply shaped by wartime devastation and reconstruction, the Turin chapter situates the exhibition within a major cultural hub dedicated to the history and legacies of the twentieth century, creating a new dialogue between European memory and local context.

The exhibition will be inaugurated on Saturday, 18 April at 18:00 in the Salotto del Polo. Speakers will include the exhibition’s curator Isabelle Benoit; artist Rebekka Bauer, who undertook her residency in Paraloup; historian Mirco Carrattieri, coordinator of the LRE Italy Historical Advisory Board; Alessandro Rubini, director of the Polo del ’900; Beatrice Verri, of the Nuto Revelli Foundation; and Paola Boccalatte of the Paesaggi della Memoria Scientific Committee.

Also present will be Aldo Rolfi, son of Lidia Beccaria Rolfi, a member of the Italian Resistance who was later deported to Ravensbrück and became an important voice in Holocaust testimony. Rolfi’s life and legacy are at the centre of Rebekka Bauer’s installation.

Alongside the exhibition, a public programme of workshops, guided tours and educational activities will run throughout its opening period, offering visitors opportunities to engage more deeply with the artistic processes and the broader questions around how memory is shaped and transmitted today.

The project is co-funded by the European Union under the Creative Europe programme. Partners include Tempora, the LRE Foundation, La Coupole Centre d’Histoire, Fondazione Nuto Revelli, the City of Bastogne and the Sybir Memorial Museum, in collaboration with the Polo del ’900 Foundation.

New Cycling Route “War in the Over-Betuwe” Launched on Liberation Route Europe

Posted on April 3, 2026April 3, 2026 by Viola Scalacci

On 2 April, a new themed cycling route, War in the Over-Betuwe, was officially launched in the municipalities of Over-Betuwe and Lingewaard, in the region between Nijmegen and Arnhem. Developed as part of the LRE Foundation network, the route sheds light on the profound impact of the Second World War on this river landscape and its communities.

The launch date carries strong historical significance: April 1945 marked the end of German occupation in the Over-Betuwe region. Choosing this moment for the inauguration creates a direct link between past and present, inviting visitors to reflect on liberation while experiencing the landscape where these events unfolded.

The 60-kilometre cycling loop, located in the Lingewaard Municipality – an active member of the LREF network – connects 26 points of interest across the Betuwe region, an area defined by its floodplains and dykes between the Rhine and Waal rivers. The route is now marked by Floor Vectors, guiding visitors through locations that reveal personal and collective wartime experiences.

From the Schoonderlogt Estate in Elst to Fort Pannerden in Doornenburg, passing through Huissen and Driel, the route tells stories of evacuation, deliberate flooding, and devastating bombings. These narratives highlight the civilian perspective of war, bringing attention to the resilience and suffering of local communities.

The inauguration was organised by the ExodusComité, a key partner in the route’s development. The event itself echoed the spirit of the route: councillors Aart Slob and Wijnte Hol each set off by bicycle from Bemmel and Elst respectively, passing landmarks from their own municipalities, and following the signposted route to Huissen.

At 11:30, participants gathered at a Liberation Route Europe audio spot near the mass grave in Huissen. This site (42. Engulfed in fire and smoke) commemorates the tragic experiences of the town’s citizens during the war.

The group then continued to the former monastery on Kloosterlaan in Huissen – once used as a refugee centre – where the route was symbolically opened. The gathering concluded with coffee and traditional monastery cake, alongside speeches by local representatives, former chairman Martien van Hemmen, and Aude Maillard from the LRE Foundation, who was present at the launch together with members of the current board.

Adding a tangible connection to the past, the “Niemandsland” museum – also featured as a stop along the route – was present with two historic jeeps.

War in the Over-Betuwe offers visitors not only a scenic cycling experience but also a powerful journey through memory. By combining storytelling, landscape, and physical movement, the route encourages reflection on how war reshaped both the land and the lives of those who inhabited it. Visitors can plan their trip along the route via the Liberation Route Europe website, where all related stories and points of interest are also available to explore in advance or along the way.

As part of the broader Liberation Route Europe network, this new addition continues the LRE Foundation’s mission to connect people with the history of the Second World War through meaningful, on-site experiences across Europe.

LRE Forum 2026: Four Days in Arnhem and Nijmegen

Posted on March 30, 2026March 30, 2026 by Viola Scalacci

From 9 to 12 March 2026, the LRE Forum returned to where it all began: Gelderland. It was here, in the Arnhem–Nijmegen region, that the foundations of the LRE network were first laid in 2008, when a group of museums and regional partners began working together to connect WWII sites and stories through what would become the Liberation Route. Bringing the Forum back to this region had both symbolic and practical value: it marked the origins of the network while allowing participants to experience firsthand the places and sites that shaped its development.

This year’s edition was organised by the LRE Foundation, with the support of the cities of Arnhem and Nijmegen and the Province of Gelderland. Over four days, members, partners, artists, educators, and travel professionals came together to reflect on the past while working on what comes next for WWII remembrance in Europe.

A kick-off in Nijmegen: City Walk and the Art of Remembrance Opening

The Forum opened in Nijmegen, with a simple gesture: walking together.

The Discover Nijmegen City Walk took participants through the city’s wartime history, offering a shared starting point for the programme.

That same evening, at the House of Nijmegen History, the Art of Remembrance exhibition officially opened. Developed as part of a Creative Europe project, it brought together contemporary artworks created at remembrance sites across Europe.

Walking through the exhibition alongside the four artists involved in the project – Rebekka Bauer, Raphaël Dallaporta, Juhana Moisander, and Gail Ritchie – showed how art can open new and deeply personal ways of engaging with WWII history.

As highlighted during the opening, remembrance is not static. It requires care, creativity, and constant vigilance.

The LRE Member Seminar and LRE Conference in Arnhem

Day two moved to Arnhem, shifting the Forum to a discussion-focused format.

The LRE Member Seminar kicked off the morning at the Netherlands Open Air Museum with updates from the LRE Foundation and project presentations from across the network. From Croatia to the Channel Island of Jersey, from France to the Netherlands, the diversity of projects, stories and approaches showed just how alive and evolving remembrance work is today.

The LRE Conference titled “Beyond the 80th Anniversary: The Future of WWII Remembrance” followed on the morning of March 10. The opening plenary tackled a key question: how do we carry memory forward in a world with fewer eyewitnesses and increasing pressure on democratic values?

In his keynote, US Ambassador (ret.) James D. Bindenagel offered a reflection that guided the morning’s conversation. As Europe marks 80 years since liberation, he warned that some of the ideologies that led to the war are once again visible today. Echoing Hannah Arendt, he highlighted the loss of empathy as a clear warning sign.

The key takeaway was that “Never Again” only matters if we actively connect it to the present.

The keynote was followed by a panel discussion with Jurmet Huitema-de Waal, Rafał Rogulski, Marieke van Schijndel, and James D. Bindenagel, who each brought perspectives from education, policy, and international cooperation.

In the afternoon, participants split into parallel roundtables, allowing for more focused discussions on key challenges. Topics ranged from the environmental impact of remembrance tourism to the role of digital tools in education, as well as the need to include multiple perspectives in historical narratives and to rethink how commemoration is practised today.

These sessions were led by a wide range of experts, including Rebecca Armstrong, Ben de Vries, Ave Paulus, Simon Bendry, Victoria Grace Richardson-Walden, Sandra Camarda , Marlene Wöckinger, Joanna Wojdon, Peter Johnston, Jana Wohlmuth Markupová, Mathilde Roza, Marta Berecka, Laurent Bellini, Nienke Majoor, and Dominik Tomenendal, bringing together perspectives from heritage, tourism, academia, and the cultural sector.

The Gala Dinner

After a day full of ideas and exchanges, the Gala Dinner at the Eusebius Church offered something equally important: time to reconnect.

Members and partners gathered to celebrate the growth of the LRE network and to welcome new members.

A highlight of the evening was the speech by Juriaan de Mol, LRE Foundation Honorary Chairman and Founder. His words were heartfelt, funny, and a perfect reminder of how far the LRE Foundation story has come.

The LREXPO and the travel community

Day three focused on the intersection of remembrance and the travel industry at the LREXPO in Musis & Stadstheater Arnhem.

Museums, memorial sites, and destinations connected with international tour operators, exchanging ideas and building new collaborations. As Simon Bendry noted during the LRE Conference the day before, “remembrance sites are not places of war, but places of peace.” The conversations at the LREXPO reflected this approach, shaping how WWII history is presented and experienced by visitors from around the world.

The LREXPO was also attended by international tour operators who had been exploring the region through the LRE FAM Trips. During the Forum week, colleagues Gert-Jan Jacobs and Wout van Aalst guided the group across Gelderland, visiting key WWII heritage sites connected to Operation Market Garden and beyond, from Arnhem to Wageningen and the Hoge Veluwe.

The Site visits across Gelderland

If the Forum is about ideas, the site visits are about grounding those ideas in real places.

Over two days, participants explored several significant WWII sites across the region, including the Freedom Museum in Groesbeek, the Canadian War Cemetery, Landgoed Schoonderlogt – once a headquarters after Operation Market Garden – the Airborne Museum Hartenstein, Ginkelse Heide, where paratroopers landed in 1944, and Museum Deelen.

One of the most memorable moments was the Sunset March in Nijmegen. After an afternoon of rain, the group was able to experience it in calm weather. Each evening, 48 pairs of lights are lit one by one across the bridge, commemorating the soldiers who lost their lives during the Waal Crossing. The slow rhythm of the lights, accompanied by a veteran walking the bridge, creates a quiet moment of reflection.

Looking Ahead

The LRE Forum 2026 closed as it began: together, walking, sharing, reflecting.

Over four days, it created space for dialogue, connection, and new ideas. But more importantly, it reinforced something essential: that remembrance is not just about preserving the past, it’s about shaping the future.

And if there’s one thing this year’s Forum made clear, it’s that this work is more important and more urgent than ever.

A new member in Finland: Finnish Orthodox Church Museum Riisa

Posted on March 24, 2026March 24, 2026 by Viola Scalacci

We are pleased to announce the expansion of the LRE Foundation network in Finland with the addition of a new member: the Riisa Orthodox Church Museum. This new entry further strengthens our presence across Northern Europe and broadens the range of perspectives through which the history and legacy of the Second World War can be explored.

Based in Kuopio, Riisa is a museum of national and international significance. Founded in 1957, it continues the traditions of the Museum of Antiquities established at the old Monastery of Valamo in 1912. The name Riisa in Finnish refers to a metallic cover placed over an icon to protect and embellish it, an apt metaphor for the museum’s mission to preserve and highlight cultural heritage.

Riisa offers a unique and deeply compelling lens on wartime history. A large part of its collection consists of objects evacuated during World War II from territories later ceded to the Soviet Union. These artefacts not only represent religious and cultural heritage, but also tell powerful stories of displacement, loss, and resilience.

Riisa’s inclusion in the LRE Foundation network and, consequently, in the Liberation Route Europe – one of the 49 Cultural Routes certified by the Council of Europe – also complements the existing Finnish sites within the network, including the Muisti Centre for War and Peace, the Ilomantsi Battlegrounds Trail, the Kuhmo Museum of the Winter War, and the Salpa Line Museum, creating a richer and more connected narrative of Finland’s wartime experience within a broader European context.

“Membership will provide Riisa with a new path to visibility on an international scale, especially among people with an interest in war history. Few such people have a knowledge of the fascinating and quite unique angle on history that our reorganised exhibition offers,” said Anne Laiti, Director of the Orthodox Church Museum Riisa.

“Through initiatives like Liberation Route Europe, the LRE Foundation works to make history accessible, relevant, and meaningful today, promoting shared European values, encouraging cultural dialogue, and supporting more sustainable ways of exploring heritage. Riisa’s membership contributes to this mission by bringing forward a lesser-known yet significant chapter of Europe’s wartime story,” added Emme Johnson, Project Manager LRE Foundation.

Members showcase Liberation Route Europe in Finland at Matka Travel Fair

Posted on January 30, 2026 by Viola Scalacci

From 15 to 18 January, LRE Foundation members in Finland represented Liberation Route Europe at the international Matka Travel Fair in Helsinki. The fair is Northern Europe’s largest travel industry event, where travel enthusiasts and professionals from nearly 70 countries come together. This year’s event welcomed a total of 56,400 visitors and exhibitors and offered a great opportunity to introduce the Liberation Route Europe network to a broad audience and highlight our members in Finland.

Since 2023, when LREF welcomed our first Finnish member, Muisti Centre of War and Peace, the network has steadily expanded in Finland. This year’s exhibition stand brought together World War Two history sites from across Eastern Finland, with four of the network’s five Finnish members participating in the fair. Representing the network were the Muisti Centre of War and Peace, the Ilomantsi Battlegrounds Trail, the Kuhmo Winter War Museum, and the Salpa Line Museum.

This year also marked the first occasion where Eastern Finland’s military history destinations were presented collectively as a unified network. These sites are connected by the Via Karelia tourist route, which follows Finland’s eastern border.

For Finland, the Second World War encompassed three separate conflicts, shaped by the country’s difficult position between German and Soviet strategic interests. The participating sites shed light on this complex history and the lasting impact of the war on the region.

We are pleased to be bringing this important WWII history into the international narrative, and representation at events such as Matka Travel Fair is an essential part of highlighting this work to the international travel industry.

LRE Conference 2026 to Address the Future of World War II Remembrance

Posted on January 29, 2026January 30, 2026 by Viola Scalacci

The LRE Conference 2026, titled “Beyond the 80th Anniversary: The Future of World War II Remembrance”, will take place on 10 March 2026 at the Open Air Museum in Arnhem, the Netherlands, as part of the 10th edition of the LRE Forum.

As the 80th anniversary commemorations of the Second World War conclude, the conference will focus on how remembrance can remain meaningful in a time marked by the loss of eyewitnesses, growing historical distortion, digital transformation and changing political and societal challenges. Open to everyone, the event will bring together international experts from the fields of history, education, cultural heritage and remembrance policy to reflect on the future of WWII memory in Europe and beyond.

The opening plenary session, Safeguarding WWII Memory in a Changing World, will feature James D. Bindenagel, former United States Ambassador to Germany; Jurmet Huitema-de Waal, education expert at the Anne Frank House; and Rafał Rogulski, Director of the European Network Remembrance and Solidarity. Together, they will examine the political, educational and social responsibilities of remembrance in the decades ahead in shaping resilient and inclusive societies.

In the afternoon, participants will engage in parallel roundtable discussions addressing some of the most pressing challenges facing memory institutions today. These include the future of remembrance tourism in the context of climate change, innovative ways of engaging younger generations through digital tools and education, the importance of international research and multi-perspective historical narratives, and the development of inclusive and contemporary commemorative practices.

Speakers contributing to the roundtables include Rebecca Armstrong of The Travel Foundation, Ben de Vries of Military Heritage, Cultural Heritage Agency, The Netherlands, Ave Paulus of ICOMOS Estonia, Victoria Grace Richardson-Walden from the University of Sussex, Sandra Camarda of the Luxembourg Centre for Contemporary and Digital History, Marlene Wöckinger of the Mauthausen concentration camp memorial, Joanna Wojdon from the University of Wrocław, Poland Hinke Piersma of NIOD Institute for War, Holocaust and Genocide Studies, Peter Johnson of the Imperial War Museums, Jana Wohlmuth Markupová from Charles University, Marta Berecka of the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum, Laurent Bellini from the City of Paris and Nienke Majoor of the Dutch National Committee for 4 and 5 May, among others.

The conference is part of the wider LRE Forum 2026, the LRE Foundation’s annual event, which will take place from 9 to 12 March in Arnhem and Nijmegen in collaboration with the Cities of Arnhem and Nijmegen and the Province of Gelderland. Marking its tenth anniversary, the forum will feature professional exchanges, site visits, exhibitions and networking activities for remembrance and heritage professionals from across Europe.

By looking beyond milestone anniversaries, the LRE Conference 2026 aims to strengthen international cooperation and ensure that the memory of World War II continues to inform democratic values, historical awareness and civic responsibility for future generations. Join us in Arnhem to take part in this shared reflection and help shape the future of remembrance.

More information and registration: https://www.lre-foundation.org/conference-2026/

The LRE Foundation welcomes the Greek Municipality of Ioannina as its new member.

Posted on January 26, 2026January 26, 2026 by Viola Scalacci

The LRE Foundation is strengthening its presence in Greece by welcoming the Municipality of Ioannina into its international network. This addition marks a step towards stronger collaboration between Greece and other European countries on issues of WWII remembrance. It also enhances the Foundation’s multiperspective approach to history, shedding light on Europe’s wartime past through different angles, promoting mutual understanding at a transnational level and across communities.

Ioannina is a city built on the west bank of Lake Pamvotis, a naturally fortified position. Its history goes back to the Hellenistic period, and it has been the capital city of the Region of Epirus in northwestern Greece since the 10th century. During the Second World War, Ioannina became the headquarters of the Greek Army that defended against the Italian attack in 1940. In April 1941, it was intensively bombed by the Luftwaffe (German Air Force). In 1944, during the Axis occupation, the Jewish community in Ioannina was rounded up by the German forces and sent to the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration and extermination camp, while hundreds of civilians were massacred.

The Mayor of Ioannina, Mr Thomas K. Begkas, highlights the need to keep the memory of the war victims alive, so that the horror and the bigotry of the war will never be forgotten and repeated.

‘We are urging for a society based on mutual respect and peace”, he says. “We need to stay united against all forms of hatred and fanaticism. Historical memory is not a luxury; it is a duty.’

Managing Director of LRE Foundation, Rémi Praud, notes: ‘By welcoming the Municipality of Ioannina into our network, we aim to acknowledge and widely share the wartime experiences endured in Greece and to connect them with the history of the Second World War in Europe. We hope to strengthen these historical links and develop meaningful partnerships.’

Ioannina is one of many Greek regions deeply affected by the Nazi Occupation. The Municipality’s efforts to preserve this memory resonate across the LREF network, and we aim to support exchanges that help younger generations understand this legacy and promote mutual respect.