The president of the Union of Italian Jewish Communities, Noemi Di Segni, participated in the ceremonies for the liberation of Italy from fascism in Milan on Tuesday, noting its importance for the Jewish community.
Speaking about Liberation Day in Italy, she told the Corriere de la Sera newspaper:
“On that day in 1945 it meant being able to go out on the streets, look at the sun, breathe without being afraid of having to hide in order not to be killed, captured, deported. On the 24th all of this was still possible. Within a few hours everything changed: for the Jews, for the partisans, for every Italian. And it’s impressive to think about it,” according to an English translation provided by the European Jewish Congress.
She called the day a “celebration for all Italians, an essential moment of national identity.”
“It is also a celebration of us Jews because we are an integral part of all the historical phases of our country: an important common thread, we were and are part of this nation,” Di Segni said. “It is good to reflect on what Italy would have been like if the Nazi-fascists had won. The victory of the Allies and the Resistance benefited all the Italians who found their freedom and defeated Nazi-fascist totalitarianism. That freedom is not taken for granted and must be defended every day.”
She repeated her call for Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni to condemn fascism “in a linear and coherent way.”
“If this is a right-wing government that believes it is the bearer of democratic values and is able to take, in its full right, positions internally and in the European field in matters of labour, the market, foreign policy and all the rest, there should be no no difficulty in condemning… the aberrations of fascism. And therefore in clearly distancing oneself from it, condemning any possible nostalgia for that tragic chapter of our history,” she said.
Di Segni warned that the “two obscure phenomena” of antisemitism and racist are reemerging in Italy on a daily basis.
“The Meloni government has chosen the prefect Giuseppe Pecoraro as national coordinator for the fight against antisemitism: an important recognition of the problem. Together, we have outlined initiatives to be carried out. The theme of antisemitism also includes hatred for Israel, its delegitimization as a democratic state. A problem that is not within the government but in some sectors of Italian society.”