Overview

• At a UCEI conference in Rome, Family Minister Eugenia Roccella said school visits to Auschwitz were promoted in ways that suggested antisemitism was only a fascist-era issue.
• Roccella argued Italy has not fully confronted present-day antisemitism and criticized casual use of the term “genocide” regarding the current conflict.
• She called universities “among the worst places of non-reflection,” citing the University of Bologna senate’s vote to halt collaborations with Israeli institutions.
• Holocaust survivor and senator for life Liliana Segre condemned the remarks, rejecting the notion that Auschwitz trips are mere “gite” and reaffirming fascist responsibility for persecution and deportations.
• Opposition figures labeled the comments an insult to memory, while Roccella countered that the left is indulging pro-Hamas sentiments and said Auschwitz visits remain important but must be paired with confronting today’s antisemitism.