Overview

• Speaking at a UCEI event in Rome, Family Minister Eugenia Roccella said school visits to Auschwitz were promoted in ways that confined antisemitism to the fascist past and argued it has been re‑legitimized by the latest Israel–Palestine tensions.
• Holocaust survivor and senator for life Liliana Segre condemned the remarks as offensive to historical memory, and opposition leaders criticized the minister’s wording.
• Roccella rejected accusations of negationism, said she would call Segre, and offered to appear before the parliamentary commission on hate to clarify her position.
• Opposition figures, including PD leader Elly Schlein, urged Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni to distance the government from the comments, but no formal distancing had been issued at the time of reporting.
• Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi announced a new national strategy against antisemitism focused on education, security, and countering disinformation, as some Jewish leaders such as Riccardo Pacifici backed Roccella’s warning about current antisemitic sentiment.