Holocaust Survivor Oversees Start of Rightist Italian Parliament

A Holocaust survivor presided over the opening of Italy’s new parliament on Thursday, recalling the dangers of fascism as the most right-wing coalition since World War II took control of the upper and lower houses.

Liliana Segre was “the only member of her Jewish family to survive the Nazi Auschwitz concentration camp and reminded parliamentarians of the upcoming 100th anniversary of the March on Rome that brought fascist leader Benito Mussolini to power.”

The conservative bloc that is set to take power is led by the nationalist Brothers of Italy party, which traces its roots back to a “post-fascist group” set up by supporters of Mussolini.

“It is impossible for me not to feel a kind of vertigo remembering that the same little girl who, on a day like this in 1938, disconsolate and lost, was forced by racist laws to leave her empty desk at primary school, is now, by a strange twist of fate, at the most prestigious desk in the Senate,” Segre said.

Honoured as a life senator, the 92 year-old is the oldest active member of the chamber, meaning she started proceedings.

The Senate’s first duty will be to elect a speaker, who looks certain to be Ignazio La Russa – a senior member of the Brothers of Italy, which won 26% of votes in the Sept. 25 election, making it the most popular party in Italy.

Reuters /Shakirat Sadiq