Gianni Alemanno, the recently elected mayor of Rome, is currently visiting Israel, and courting controversy with some of his comments about fascism and racial purity. Below is an excerpt from an article published on the La Repubblica website which refers to an interview that Alemanno gave to the newspaper Corriere Della Sera. You can read the full La Repubblica article here, and the complete interview here. Please attempt a translation, and consider posting your answer as a comment. I'll post my own attempt at a translation in a few days:
ROMA - Si accende la polemica dopo le dichiarazioni di Gianni Alemanno su fascismo e leggi razziali. Il sindaco di Roma, in visita in Israele, rilascia un' intervista al Corriere della sera e si avventura in un distinguo tra il regime di Mussolini e leggi contro gli ebrei. Il primo, dice il sindaco "non fu il male assoluto e non mi sento di condannarlo". Condanna che, invece, Alemanno riserva alle leggi razziali promulgate dal regime: "Quelle sono state il vero male assoluto". Una posizione diversa da quella di Fini che, nel 2003 in Israele, condannò il fascismo in toto chiamandolo, appunto, "il male assoluto".
Ma la distinzione di Alemanno non piace a molti esponenti della comunità ebraica. Renzo Gattegna, presidente dell'Unione delle Comunità ebraiche taglia corto: "Le leggi furono emanate dal regime fascista, mi sembra difficile separare le due cose. Bisogna essere cauti". Piero Terracina, sopravvissuto ad Auschwitz, che taglia corto: "Le leggi razziali ci sono state perché c'è stato il fascismo". Mentre il presidente della Comunità ebraica di Roma, Riccardo Pacifici dice di attendersi "un chiarimento" dal primo cittadino di Roma "anche se ho motivo di credere che il pensiero espresso dal nostro sindaco volesse arrivare a conclusioni diverse".
[Taken from the article entitled 'Il fascismo non fu il male assoluto’: Comunità ebraica contro Alemanno, 7th September 2008]
Sunday, September 7, 2008
1 response(s):
Ciao a tutti, this is my attempt at a translation of the article. Please feel free to correct my errors and misunderstandings, everyone!
The controversy reignites after the statements by Gianni Alemanno on fascism and racial laws. Rome’s mayor, on a visit to Israel, gave an interview to Corriere della Sera and ventured to make a distinction between Mussolini’s regime and its anti-semitic legislation. The former, according to the mayor, “was not unequivocally evil and I don’t feel obliged to condemn it.” On the other hand, Alemanno reserves that condemnation for the racial laws promulgated by the regime: “Those were the real absolute evil.” This is a different stance from the one adopted by Gianfranco Fini who, on a 2003 visit to Israel, condemned fascism totally, calling it in fact “the absolute evil”.
But Alemanno’s distinction doesn’t please many in the Jewish community. Renzo Gattegna, president of the Union of Jewish Communities said shortly: “The laws emanated from the fascist regime, and it seems difficult to me to separate the two things. There’s a need for caution. “ Piero Terracina, an Auschwitz survivor said bluntly: “The racial laws came about because of the fascist state. “ While the president of the Jewish community in Rome, Riccardo Pacifici, said that he was waiting for “a clarification” from the mayor, “even if I have cause to believe that the mayor’s reasoning needs to arrive at different conclusions. “
Post a Comment