ROME, Jan. 27 (Xinhua) -- Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni described the current rise in anti-Semitism as "a scourge that has survived the Holocaust," as Italy observed International Holocaust Remembrance Day with various initiatives on Monday.
"Anti-Semitism was not defeated when the gates of Auschwitz were pulled down ... and has taken on different forms, spreading through new means and channels," Meloni said in a statement.
Speaking to Italian media, and in a video-message sent to all Italian embassies and schools across the world, Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani stressed the importance of "keeping alive the awareness of the gravity of what happened." He said that countering anti-Semitism, particularly among young people, is a priority for the right-wing government led by Meloni.
President Sergio Mattarella attended the main commemorations at the Auschwitz concentration and extermination camp in Poland, joined by representatives from more than 50 countries and international organizations.
This year's Holocaust Remembrance Day commemorates the 80th anniversary of the Soviet army's liberation of Auschwitz, which exposed the full scale of the Nazis' extermination plan against Europe's Jewish population.
Across Italy, numerous initiatives were organized to raise awareness, including 40 events in Rome, many of which were dedicated to school pupils. Local authorities attended a commemoration at the city's Jewish district, where Nazi troops rounded up approximately 1,259 Jewish residents in October 1943. Of those deported to death camps, only 16 survived.
During Mussolini's fascist regime and its aftermath, over 7,000 Italian Jews were deported from a national community of 40,000. The vast majority were sent to Auschwitz, with just 800 returning alive. ■
