Lukashenka, Berlusconi and Ahmadinejad accused of anti-Semitism

Moscow Bureau for Human Rights made a statement on the International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

The authors of the statement point out that “anti-Semitism is raising its head again, neo-Nazi slogans go popular, parliament seats are taken by the representatives of radical right parties” in the countries of Europe.  

As the latest example the words are given by the former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. The day before yesterday he claimed that Italy is not historically responsible for the Holocaust, like Germany. The politicians claimed that the duce did so many good things for Italy that his order to deport the Jewish population to concentration camps is not such a serious crime.

The authors of the statement also give other examples of similar utterances.

“The president of Iran Ahmadinejad has been invariably denying the Holocaust, Lukashenka allowed himself to make public statements of some useful aspects of Hitler’s activities. In their hatred towards Israel many Islamist groupings deny the Holocaust. There is a significant number of the one who deny the Holocaust among the followers of the radical right views, and among the authors of the books, who claim to be historians”, - the statement by Moscow Bureau for Human Rights says.

We would remind that in 1995 Lukashenka, by the time a legally elected president, praised Hitler.

“Germany’s history is to some degree a copy of the history of Belarus at certain stages. In due time Germany was raised from ruins thanks to a very tough authority of famous Adolf Hitler. The German order has been forming for centuries, this formation has reached its peak with Hitler. This is what corresponds with our understanding of a presidential republic and the role of a president in it… Hitler formed mighty Germany due to strong presidential power… Germany arose thanks to strong authorities, due to the fact that the whole nation was able to consolidate and unite around a strong leader… The head of the state – president, his authority, his leading position comes to the foreground at this stage… This is what German history teaches us”, - he said.

The International Holocaust Remembrance Day is observed on 27 January  - on the day when Soviet troops liberated Auschwitz concentration camp in 1945.