Berlusconi praises Fascist dictator Mussolini on Holocaust Remembrance Day [View all]

[Judi Lynn]

Last edited Sun Jan 27, 2013, 03:01 PM - Edit history (1)

Source: Agence France-Presse

Berlusconi praises Fascist dictator Mussolini on Holocaust Remembrance Day
By Agence France-Presse
Sunday, January 27, 2013 12:17 EST

Italy’s gaffe-prone former premier Silvio Berlusconi sparked outrage Sunday with remarks praising wartime dictator Benito Mussolini despite Il Duce’s persecution of Jews and allowing thousands to be deported to Auschwitz.

“The racial laws were the worst mistake of a leader, Mussolini, who however did good things in so many other areas,” Berlusconi, who is angling for a return to politics in elections next month, said on the sidelines of a ceremony marking Holocaust Remembrance Day in Milan.

Starting in 1938, Mussolini promulgated decrees known collectively as racial laws that barred Jews from the civil service, the armed forces and the National Fascist Party. The laws also banned intermarriage.

Mussolini’s Italy participated in the deportation of Jews to the Auschwitz death camp, and an estimated 7,500 are estimated to have been victims of the Holocaust.

Read more: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/01/27/berlusconi-praises-fascist-dictator-mussolini-on-holocaust-remembrance-day/