THE TELEGRAPH: Two of Italy's most senior politicians have sparked a debate about the country's dark past and uncertain future after voicing sympathy for the fascist era of Benito Mussolini.
The combative right-wing mayor of Rome refused to condemn fascism as evil, while the country's defence minister paid homage to fascist troops who fought with the Nazis in resisting the Anglo-American landings of World War II.
The minister, Ignazio La Russa, was speaking at an event marking the 65th anniversary of Rome's resistance to Nazi occupation in 1943 and the role played by anti-fascist partisans.
But he also recalled the "Nembo" parachute division from Mussolini's fascist "Salo Republic" who fought alongside the Germans against the Allies.
"I would betray my conscience if I did not recall that other men in uniform, such as the Nembo from the Italian Social Republic army, also, from their point of view, fought in the belief they were defending their country," the minister said.
Hundreds of Italian soldiers and civilians died in September 1943, shortly after an armistice was signed between the Allies and Italy, attempting to stop the Germans from occupying Rome.
The inflammatory remarks, which were condemned by left-wing politicians, intensified a row over comments by Rome's mayor, Gianni Alemanno, who said that while racial laws passed by Mussolini in 1938 were wrong, it would be too simplistic to condemn fascism as a whole, as an "absolute evil".
"I don't think so and I never thought so: fascism was a more complex phenomenon," Mr Alemanno, 50, once the youth leader of a neo-fascist party, told the Corriere della Sera newspaper during a trip to Israel that included a stop at the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial in Jerusalem.
"Many people joined it in good faith, and I don't feel like labelling them with that definition."
Opposition MPs and Jewish community leaders accused the mayor of attempting to rewrite one of the darkest chapters of Italian history. Italian Politicians ‘Praise’ Fascist Era of Benito Mussolini >>> By Nick Squires in Rome | September 8, 2008
DIE PRESSE:
Italien: Bürgermeister Roms provoziert auf Israel-Reise: Gianni Alemanno empört mit Faschismus-Aussagen. Wie eng Antisemitismus und Italo-Faschismus tatsächlich verflochten waren, daran erinnerte erst vor wenigen Wochen eine andere Diskussion >>> | 8. September 2008
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback – Italy)
