Outrage as Berlusconi praises Mussolini on Holocaust Day

Italy's gaffe-prone former premier Silvio Berlusconi sparked outrage today 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.

Italy "does not have the same responsibilities as Germany," said Berlusconi, a billionaire media tycoon known for ill-considered outbursts. On Saturday, Chancellor Angela Merkel said Germany had "an everlasting responsibility for the crimes of (the Nazis)".

The head of Italy's Jewish community, Renzo Gattegna, slammed Berlusconi's remarks, saying they were "not only superficial and inopportune, but also... devoid of any moral meaning or historical foundation."

Gattegna, head of the Union of Italian Jewish Communities, added: "The persecution and the racist anti-Semitic laws of Italy originated well before the war and were applied with full autonomy under the... fascist regime, later an ally and willing and conscious accomplice of Nazi Germany."

He said the remarks showed "the extent to which Italy still has trouble seriously accepting its own history and its own responsibilities". Centre-left politicians also voiced outrage over Berlusconi's comments.

"Berlusconi's words are a disgrace and an insult to history and memory. He should apologise to the Italian people today," Dario Francheschini, head of the centre-left Democratic Party, said in a Twitter message.

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