Holocaust survivor Segre hits back at claims by Minister Roccella.
An Italian government minister has sparked controversy by claiming that the purpose of school trips to Auschwitz is to underscore the link between antisemitism and fascism.
Eugenia Roccella, Italy’s minister for the Family, the Birth Rate and Equal Opportunities, made the comments during an address at an event organised by the Union of Italian Jewish Communities (UCEI) in Rome on Saturday.
Roccella, a member of premier Giorgia Meloni‘s right-wing Fratelli d’Italia party, claimed that educational visits to Auschwitz are organised and promoted “because they tell us that antisemitism was something that concerned a time already established in history, now placed in the historical past, and located in a specific area: Fascism”, adding: “The trips to Auschwitz, in my opinion, were a way of reiterating that antisemitism was a fascist issue and nothing more”.
“We haven’t fully come to terms with antisemitism”, Roccella claimed, arguing that contemporary Italian society is incapable of addressing the problem of its own antisemitism without relegating it to a bygone era.
“Antisemitism has found justification in the latest phase of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict for its resurgence and re-legitimisation” – Roccella claimed – “The relish with which the word genocide is used, throwing it back in the faces of those with well-documented and precise experience of genocide, is truly shocking”.
She claimed that this was demonstrated by the alleged lack of solidarity with Israel after the Hamas attacks of 7 October 20, claiming: “I believe there was a creeping anti-Semitism that Italy had never fully confronted, and which had already begun to take effect”.
Backlash
Roccella’s words were criticised by several opposition figures, including the leader of the centre-left opposition Partito Democratico (PD) Elly Schlein, who asked Meloni to distance herself from the minister “because there is a limit to everything, even though this government demonstrates how it is possible to exceed it, even by insulting memorial trips to Auschwitz and trying to rewrite history.”
Riccardo Magi, leader of the centre-left Più Europa, accused Roccella of offering “an instrumental and provincial interpretation of the memory of the Holocaust” and appearing “to want to downplay the role of Nazi-fascism, which a century ago planned the deliberate extermination of the Jews in Europe.”
“Roccella shouldn’t be blind” – Magi fumed – “It is also in the memory of the Holocaust and the rejection of fascism, thanks precisely to initiatives like the visits to Auschwitz, that the younger generations have developed a firm opposition to the Gaza massacre and the rejection of war in all its forms.”
Italian senator for life Liliana Segre, who was deported to the Auschwitz concentration camp in 1944 because she was Jewish, also harshly commented on Roccella’s remarks.
Segre, 95, said she found it “hard to believe” that an Italian government minister could say that educational trips to Auschwitz “were encouraged to foster anti-fascism”.
Segre noted that during the second world war the Nazis – assisted by the “zealous contribution” of Italian fascists – “created a colossal industry of death to wipe Jews, Roma, Sinti, and other minorities from the face of the earth”.
“The education of our children and grandchildren must begin with a knowledge of history” – Segre said – “The memory of historical truth only harms those who keep skeletons in their closets.”
