Jewish groups in Italy decry ‘dramatic increase’ in antisemitism while marking Holocaust Remembrance Day

The Jewish community of Milan withdrew from the main municipal Holocaust commemoration ceremony, citing concerns that it could be exploited to promote anti-Israel rhetoric.

By Ailin Vilches Arguello, The Algemeiner

The Jewish community in Italy decried the surge in antisemitism sweeping across their country as they marked International Holocaust Remembrance Day on Monday, noting that antisemitic incidents have increased drastically while knowledge of the Nazis murdering six million Jews during World War II has plummeted.

“We are deeply concerned by the growing denial, distortion, and trivialization of the Holocaust,” Dario Disegni, president of the Jewish Community of Turin, said during a ceremony honoring military personnel and civilians who were imprisoned in Nazi concentration camps, according to the Italian newspaper La Repubblica.

Disegni emphasized that, as Holocaust survivors pass away, the risk is that “this terrible period” will soon be remembered only in history books.

“It is therefore up to us to be witnesses of the witnesses,” he said.

Disegni also denounced a “dramatic increase in antisemitic incidents,” which he said were “up 400 percent compared to previous years.”

Holocaust Remembrance Day falls on Jan. 27, the anniversary of the 1945 liberation of Auschwitz, the Nazis’ largest and most infamous concentration camp where over a million people were killed.

During Monday’s ceremony, 37 honorary medals were awarded posthumously to the families of those imprisoned in Nazi camps after Sept. 8, 1943, and forced into labor, La Repubblica reported.

“These medals represent the most important legacy, the greatest legacy, the most precious legacy, made of suffering, resilience, and the ability to endure so much pain and deprivation,” Turin Prefect Donato Cafagna said, addressing the families of those who suffered under Nazi persecution.

Turin Mayor Stefano Lo Russo also commemorated the 80th anniversary of Auschwitz’s liberation, recalling how the Soviet army freed those imprisoned.

“A moment that has gained immense significance, a symbol of a dark period in our history that we have the duty to remember: while so many witnesses of those terrible years are unfortunately no longer with us, it is up to all of us to carry forward their precious legacy,” Lo Russo posted on his Facebook account.

Meanwhile, the Jewish community of Milan withdrew from the main municipal Holocaust commemoration ceremony, citing concerns that it could be exploited to promote anti-Israel rhetoric accusing the country of genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

“Dialogue with the younger generations requires sharing and serenity, conditions lacking in last year’s event as well as on other occasions due to excessive politicization of some of the associations,” the group wrote in a statement.

Davide Romano, director of the Museum of the Jewish Brigade in Milan, told JNS that the new leadership at the National Association of Italian Partisans’ branch in Milan — a key co-organizer of Holocaust commemoration events — has taken the organization in an anti-Israel direction.

However, the Milan branch’s current president, Primo Minelli, rejected the concerns of the Jewish community.

“We don’t take orders from anyone, and we don’t let ourselves be intimidated. The battle against antisemitism is a fundamental battle for us, which we fight not only on Jan. 27 but 365 days a year,” Minelli told the Italian news outlet ANSA.

Romano explained that the decision to abstain from this year’s event stemmed from the fact that, since Hamas’s invasion of southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, numerous individuals and some participating associations have been making accusations of genocide against Israel in Gaza.

“It’s unacceptable to co-organize Holocaust commemoration one day, and celebrate as friends of Hamas and Hezbollah the next day,” he said, referring to two Iran-backed Islamist terror groups that openly seek Israel’s destruction.

Like many countries around the world, Italy has experienced a surge in antisemitic incidents since the Hamas atrocities of last Oct. 7.