Outrage as Berlusconi praises Mussolini on Holocaust Day
Purchase this article for republication
Buy SPH photos
ROME (AFP) - Italy's gaffe-prone former premier Silvio Berlusconi sparked outrage on Sunday 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," Mr 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.
