Silicosi. L'Olocausto dimenticato della montagna veneta

On Friday, December 12 at 8:30 PM, we will host the presentation of the book “Silicosis. The Forgotten Holocaust of the Veneto Mountains” (Bellunesi nel mondo Edizioni, 2025), authored by journalist and researcher Egidio Pasuch.

The presence of silicosis is also documented in Castellavazzo, not only among those who worked in the stone quarries but also, and especially, among the workers of the Marchino Cement Factory.

The book rigorously and sensitively reconstructs one of the most dramatic pages in the local history of the entire Bellunese region: the tragedy of silicosis, defined as “the deadliest occupational disease of the modern era,” which for decades has marked the lives of miners and their families: it was a “Vajont every ten years” – as some described it – that left behind the so-called “villages of widows” in the Bellunese area. A deep imprint in the communities of the Dolomites that has remained in the shadows for far too long.

With this volume, Pasuch shines a light in the darkness of oblivion, restoring voice and dignity to those who paid with their lives the price of labor. His narrative aims not only to remember but, above all, to convey to new generations an awareness of a sacrifice that has marked the fate of the territory and the Venetian families.