Berlusconi praises Fascist dictator Mussolini on Holocaust Remembrance Day

[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/

[Judi Lynn]

1. Berlusconi defends Mussolini for backing Hitler .

Berlusconi defends Mussolini for backing Hitler .
January 27, 2013

ROME — Former Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi praised Benito Mussolini for "having done good" despite the Fascist dictator's anti-Jewish laws, immediately sparking expressions of outrage as Europe on Sunday held Holocaust remembrances.

Berlusconi also defended Mussolini for allying himself with Hitler, saying he likely reasoned that it would be better to be on the winning side.

The media mogul, whose conservative forces are polling second in voter surveys ahead of next month's election, spoke to reporters on the sidelines of a ceremony in Milan to commemorate the Holocaust.

In 1938, before the outbreak of World War II, Mussolini's regime passed the so-called "racial laws," barring Jews from Italy's universities and many professions, among other bans. When Germany's Nazi regime occupied Italy during the war, thousands from the tiny Italian Jewish community were deported to death camps.

More:
http://bostonherald.com/news_opinion/international/europe/2013/01/berlusconi_defends_mussolini_backing_hitler

[uhnope]

8. Italy's a basket case and neo-fascism is spreading in Europe

If a communist gets elected somewhere on the globe it's big news, but fascists grow in influence and the US media covers more important things like Beyonce lip-synching.

[Posteritatis]

14. A lot of them I'm not even sure about the "neo" part. Ugh. (nt)

[uhnope]

18. right you are

[bemildred]

2. One can only hope he shares the fate of his mentor. nt

[appal_jack]

16. But the trains... they ran in such a timely manner...

But the trains... they ran in such a timely manner under Mussolini!

Just kidding, a public hanging was precisely the fate that Il Duce deserved. Can't believe that Berlusconi is publicly harkening back to those days.

k&r,

-app

[mwooldri]

3. What the F.... ??????

In my mind Benito Mussolini == Adolf Hitler's lapdog.

I believe all people are capable of doing good deeds, yes even Hitler and Mussolini. However in the case of certain people their evil deeds should be front and centre of what these guys were all about and their good deeds should be minor footnotes in their biography and that's it IMO.

Plus Berlusconi to have said that in the place and time he did was grossly insensitive. There's a time and place for everything and he chose wrong on both counts. Hopefully with all the issues surrounding him, and his presently in progress legal issues - that should dissuade Italians from voting for him.

[DallasNE]

4. Reminds Me Of Donald Trump

They have a lot in common. Big bankrolls and big mouths that say incredibly stupid things.

[struggle4progress]

6. He's angling for the modern blackshirt vote

... The latest sign of a swing to the right involves the Italian National Guard and fascist-style uniforms reminiscent of the notorious blackshirts. The Guard claims to have thousands of recruits, some with a police and military background ... The leader of the Guard, Gaetano Saya, told Corriere della Sera that the organization is based on the Roman legions ... The uniform reflects more than just a Roman influence. It features the Nazi Black Sun symbol on the armband, the eagle of the Roman Empire on military style caps and other sundry emblems ... The favorite fascist color is also in evidence ... black belts, black gloves, black hats and helmets, black ties ...

Jun 16, 2009
Italian National Guard: return of the 'blackshirts'?
http://www.drivebyplanet.com/2009/06/italian-national-guard-neo-fascism-and.html

[JDPriestly]

7. Hope those DUers who are asking why Israel exists will read this.

The extermination of the Jews during WWII was just one instance of exterminations and witch-hunts that have been repeated since the Roman Empire throughout Europe and recently the Middle East.

This is incredible. As if you could separate fascism from the scapegoating of minorities like Jews and Gypsies and homosexuals, etc. Can't be done. It will end up in that kind of brutal dehumanization. It has in the past, and it always will. Just like a number of other extremist philosophies that believe that killing or jailing or hurting those who are "different" is justified by the attainment of some ideological end -- like power for the Duce or the Fuhrer. Oh, and justified by the attainment of "order."

[iandhr]

9. I am speechless

[davidpdx]

10. Berlusconi is a loon

If it wasn't apparent before this latest comment, it should be readily apparent now.

[fascisthunter]

11. interesting how DUers do not want this to get attention

maybe becuase so many actually share his his economic ideology while detsting Chavez's. Hypocrites.

[msanthrope]

12. This seems rather incoherent. Please explain? nt

[GReedDiamond]

17. No kidding...it reads like a reply to a completely different thread...??...nt

[alcibiades_mystery]

13. The Holocaust in Italy is a very curious thing

Most of the deportations (which is to say, the transfer to the death camps) of the Italian Jews happened after Italy had formally surrendered, and then been occupied by the Germans, with the post-Mussolini government as the puppet regime. Mussolini's racial laws of the late 1930's were certainly horrific anti-Semitism, and made the deportations easier once they kicked in, but Mussolini's presence in government actually seemed to constrain Himmler's Endlosung plans in Italy. (The case of the Greek Jews in the Italian-occupied zone makes this fairly clear: the Greek Jews in the German zone were sent to the death camps almost entirely and relatively early; the Jews in the Italian-controlled concentration camps were not deported until after Italy had surrendered in 1943 and the Germans took control of their sector). In that sense, this statement is incorrect: Mussolini’s Italy participated in the deportation of Jews to the Auschwitz death camp.... Not exactly, as Mussolini was already expelled from government and powerless by that time. Needless to say, none of this should be read as a defense of either Mussolini or Italy during the Holocaust; one need only read Levi to indict either.

[question everything]

15. He, too, should be hanged upside down

for a few minutes..

Just for the cheering crowd.

[zellie]

19. Words fail me but

he's a real dirtball.