At the invitation of the mayor of Recanati and the Polovers association, the Institute of National Remembrance opened the “Trails of Hope. The Odyssey of Freedom” exhibition on 1 July 2025 at the Atrio Palazzo Comunale gallery in Recanati. During the ceremony, Mayor Emanuele Pepa stressed the fact that the liberation of the city and its people from German occupation was brought by Polish soldiers. In a letter addressed to the Mayor of Recanati, the President of the Institute of National Remembrance, recalled the words of St. John Paul II that “freedom is not something that is given to us. It is something which must constantly be won.” He also encouraged those present to let the memory of Polish soldiers who gave their lives for our freedom and yours be “a point of reference for free nations of all times”.

Since its opening on 18 March 2022 at the Royal Castle in Warsaw, the exhibition has been presented on five continents, in countries such as the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Belgium, Argentina, Mexico, Israel, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Iran, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Hungary and, most recently, the Netherlands. In Italy, the exhibition presented a year ago at Monte Cassino and Loreto, came to Recanati from the Museo Memoriale della Liberta in Bologna. After its presentation in the atrium of the local Town Hall, the exhibition will travel to Ancona, where it will be ceremonially opened on 18 July 2025, on the 81st anniversary of the city's liberation.

The opening of the exhibition was preceded by the laying of a wreath by the Mayor of Recanati and a representative of the Institute of National Remembrance (IPN) at a plaque commemorating the liberation of Recanati by troops of the 2nd Polish Corps under General Władysław Anders on 1 July 1944.

A historical debate dedicated to the participation of Polish troops in the Italian campaign and the liberation of Italian towns from the hands of the Germans and Italian fascists was also held in the Giacomo Leopardi room in the City Hall - Palazzo Comunale. After the session, as part of the Polovers days, the works of Frederic Chopin were played by Wojciech Swietoński – the winner of the third prize at the 19th ROMA International Piano Competition in 2009, honoured in 2023 by the Minister of Culture and National Heritage with the “Meritorious for Polish Culture” distinction.