Posted on 01/28/2013 8:15:05 AM PST by Pan_Yan
SILVIO Berlusconi provoked outrage on International Holocaust Remembrance Day yesterday by defending Benito Mussolini.
His remarks coincided with preparations in Rome to build a museum dedicated to the victims next to the former fascist dictator's home. The former Prime Minister told journalists at a remembrance ceremony in Milan that Il Duce was right to ally himself with Hitler.
A day after Angela Merkel acknowledged that Germany had "everlasting responsibility" for the Holocaust, Mr Berlusconi said Italy "does not have the same responsibilities as Germany".
He added: "Obviously the government of that time, out of fear that German power might lead to complete victory, preferred to ally itself with Hitler's Germany rather than opposing it. As part of this alliance, there were impositions, including combating and exterminating Jews."
...He insisted that Mussolini "did good things", and described his notorious anti-Jewish racial laws of 1938 as his "worst mistake".
(Excerpt) Read more at theaustralian.com.au ...
What was Mussolini’s fate again?
While the comment is undoubtedly ill-timed, and yet another attempt by the Italian Stallion to remain in the news, he isn’t wrong. Italians do not share the same responsibility as Germans when it comes to the Holocaust. In fact, in many areas under Mussolini’s control, the Fascists refused to deport Jews to the death camps. Italian Jews were only purged when Germany invaded Italy in 1943.
People too often equate Nazism with Fascism, when in reality, they were two different schools of thought. There was no real racism in Fascism until 1938, when the Racial Manifesto was enacted in Italy (an example of Hitler’s influence over Mussolini). Before this, both Jews and blacks from Italian colonies could actually join the Fascist party.
As I understand however, there is a lot of anti-semitism in Italy today.
He made the trains run on time...he also helped Hitler round up Jews....not a nice thing.
I still like him better than Stalin or Mao.
truth be known Stalin and Mao, murdered 10s of millions, and mostly their own people....and Stalin had about as much use for Jews as Hitler. He would speak out publically denouncing anti-Semitism, but would sweep up an inordinate amount of Jews during his purges.
The Italian Fascists killed somewhere around 25k domestically, with around another 200k in their colonies and areas invaded.
While nothing to sneeze at, this puts them well back in the 20th century murder-stakes.
It should also be pointed out that the 25k number was over a 21-year period, which works out to somewhere around 3/day.
Part of the reason for this was that the Purges, by definition, targeted most especially old-time Party members he saw as a threat.
Jews were represented in this group very disproportionately, and (partially) therefore were more affected by the Purges.
Question: How did the Italian Communists manage to put 19 bullets into Mussolini?
Answer: They had forty Italian sharpshooters using automatic weapons.
Right. (it was a rhetorical question)
Mussolini and his mistress were hung by COMMUNIST (cough-bs) 'partisans'. Aka: Agents of Stalin and the USSR.
And thanks for bringing that up.Anyway, IL Duce had another couple good points: Italy was the first country in Europe to recover from FDRs Great Depression (not Germany, they were 2nd). And - can't forget this: Mussolini made the trains run on time.You know, for some 'odd reason' the fact that 80% (at least) of all the so-called 'partisan groups' in Europe during WWII were stinking GODLESS COMMIES is always omitted from the documentary films about these 'patriots'. There was one this weekend on the Military Channel about Yugoslavia and: 'Tito and his Partisans'.
(It would have gagged a maggot but Obama would have cheered)This goes for ALL OF THEM. From Greece, to Italy, France, and all points in between. And includes the Red b*st*rds that Gen Franco finally destroyed. And those american TRAITORS who went to Spain in that COMMUNIST 'Lincoln Brigade'.
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