An 89-year-old Holocaust survivor residing in Italy reportedly needs police protection because of the volume of death threats she has recently received.
Liliana Segre, who has been a senator-for-life in the Italian parliament since 2018, began receiving as many as 200 threats a day after she introduced a motion for the parliament to establish a committee to fight against hate. The motion was approved over the objections of the right-wing bloc, who argued that such a committee could inhibit freedom of speech.
The Foundation Jewish Contemporary Documentation Center’s Stefano Gatti told CNN, “Every time prominent Jews are at the center of media attention in Italy, they get subjected to online anti-Semitic abuse. The anti-Semitic insults come from far-right circles that have a past, and sometimes present, of violence. It’s part of their radical rightwing code, this pugnacious attitude.”
Israel’s Ambassador to Italy Dror Eydar tweeted, “An 89-year-old survivor under escort symbolizes the danger that the Jewish communities in Europe still are facing today.”
The American Jewish Committee tweeted, “How can this be happening in 2019?”
Shameful:
After an 89-year-old Italian Holocaust survivor called on Italy's parliament to combat rising hatred, she received a torrent of antisemitic hate and death threats.
Now she needs police protection.
How can this be happening in 2019? https://t.co/cZ7mcmcL2J
— American Jewish Committee (@AJCGlobal) November 7, 2019
Former New York Democratic Assemblyman Dov Hikind, who is the president of the Americans Against Antisemitism watchdog, tweeted, “Not only is antisemitism rising but Holocaust survivors are being threatened?! Hate to say we’re back in the 1930s but it’d be wrong to suggest Jews aren’t again becoming the global scapegoats for the world’s ills. This time, however, we will FIGHT BACK!”
Not only is antisemitism rising but Holocaust survivors are being threatened?!
Hate to say we’re back in the 1930s but it’d be wrong to suggest Jews aren’t again becoming the global scapegoats for the world’s ills.
This time, however, we will FIGHT BACK! https://t.co/U1zX9SNPcH
— Dov Hikind (@HikindDov) November 7, 2019
According to the BBC, Segre was 13 when she was sent to the Auschwitz camp in 1943; two years later she was transferred to the Ravensbruck camp and then the Malchow camp shortly thereafter. The Soviet Union liberated the Malchow camp later that year. Segre’s father and grandparents were also sent to Auschwitz; they did not survive.
