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Jewish Groups in Italy Decry ‘Dramatic Increase’ in Antisemitism While Marking Holocaust Remembrance Day
A drone view of the “Arbeit macht frei” gate at the former Auschwitz concentration camp ahead of the 80th anniversary of its liberation, Oswiecim, Poland, Jan. 10, 2025. Photot: REUTERS/Kacper Pempel
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.
The post Jewish Groups in Italy Decry ‘Dramatic Increase’ in Antisemitism While Marking Holocaust Remembrance Day first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.