Berlusconi praises Mussolini at Shoah memorial

Italy’s former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has caused irritation by praising Italy’s former fascist dictator Benito Mussolini on Holocaust Memorial Day. Mussolini had been wrong to pass anti-Jewish laws but had otherwise done good things for Italy, Berlusconi said in Milan at a commemoration ceremony for the victims of the Shoah.

Referring to Mussolini’s government, Berlusconi told reporters: "Obviously the government of the time, out of fear that German power might lead to complete victory, preferred to ally itself with Hitler's Germany rather than opposing it. The racial laws were the worst fault of Mussolini as a leader, who in so many other ways did well,” Berlusconi said, referring to the 1938 laws that barred Jews in Italy from many professions. Mussolini’s Italy was an ally of Germany during World War II.

“It is difficult now to put yourself in the shoes of people who were making decisions at that time. 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,” declared Berlusconi, 76, who is currently campaigning ahead of general elections in February.

The former leader and media tycoon later issued a statement saying he that he "regretted" not having made it clearer in his comments that his historical judgments "are always based on condemnation of dictatorships," the news agency 'LaPresse' reported.

Renzo Gattegna, president of the Union of Italian Jewish Communities, said Berlusconi's statement "demonstrates how Italy still struggles, above and beyond the rhetoric, to seriously take stock of its own history and its own responsibilities." The former premier’s comments were also condemned by the center-left Democratic Party (PD). "Our republic is based on the struggle against Nazi fascism and these are intolerable remarks which are incompatible with leadership of democratic political forces," said PD spokesman Marco Meloni.

In 1938, Benito Mussolini’s regime passed laws barring Jews from academia and many professions. After 1943, when Germany occupied parts of the country, more than 7,000 Jews were deported to Nazi concentration camps, with many perishing at Auschwitz.

On Saturday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said he country had an "everlasting responsibility" for Nazi crimes, but Berlusconi said Italy "did not have the same responsibility," adding that the country's collusion in the Holocaust was initially "partly unwitting."

Swiss Jews criticize president of Switzerland for one-sided remarks

Meanwhile, the Swiss Jewish Community Federation (SIG) expressed regret about the statement made by the current president of the Swiss Confederation, Ueli Maurer, on Holocaust Remembrance Day. Maurer had only highlighted the positive aspects of Switzerland's role during World War II but completely failed to mention the weaknesses and errors of Switzerland's leaders at that time, in particular their restrictive policy toward Nazi refugees which had indirectly caused the death of many people. Defense Minister Ueli Maurer is a former leader of the populist Swiss People's Party of Christoph Blocher. He holds the rotating Swiss presidency in 2013.