ROME
(EJP) --- An Italian Senate Committee debated modifying the law on
Holocaust negationism to enable the courts to imprison anyone found
guilty of denying the Holocaust to up to three years in jail.
The debate coincided with the 59th
anniversary of the rounding up of Rome’s Jewish community, and was
witnessed by representatives of Rome’s Jewish community, including
Riccardo Pacifici, President of the Hebrew Congregation of Rome and
Chief Rabbi Riccardo Di Segni.
Proposing
the bill, Senator Silvana Amati declared herself “excited and
satisfied” at the initiative which has attracted support from across the
political spectrum. Fellow senator Lucio Malan added that Holocaust
denial is not only a crime of opinions, but also has the potential to
promote incitement. Senate President Renato Schifani said that
legislation of this kind was essential in defending the memory and
reality of the Holocaust, at a time when many survivors are no longer
around to tell their accounts.
The
Nazis entered Rome, the oldest Jewish community in Europe on September
10, 1943, having already invaded central and northern Italy, which it
renamed the “Italia Socialist Republic”. Having sourced a comprehensive
list of the city’s 12,000-strong Jewish community, on September 26 they
demanded 50kg in gold be handed over in ransom to prevent é00 members
being deported to Auschwitz.
After
Chief Rabbi Israel Zolli secured the Vatican’s pledge of a loan, both
Jewish and non-Jewish Romans instead rallied around and paid the sum in
jewellery and other valuables. However, the Nazis later reneged on their
agreement and entered the Ghetto on October 16 to begin the process of
rounding up Jews to be deported to concentration camps.
The
Vatican and other Catholic facilities succeeded in hiding 4,000 Jews
from Nazi inspection, and 2,091 Roman Jews were deported two days later
on October 18, half of whom to Auschwitz, where 839 died. At the end of
the war, only 102 of Romans deported had survived, with the majority of
the community disobeying orders to be transferred to internment camps or
hiding with their non-Jewish neighbours and government officials.
Resistance
from the Italian public and officials alike impeded Nazi deportations
and led to 80% survival rate following WWII, higher than other European
countries.
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