On Holocaust Remembrance Day, celebrated on January 27 in memory of the victims of the Holocaust, President Sergio Mattarella delivered a clear message from the Quirinale Palace: Holocaust remembrance remains a "maximum" duty, one that cannot be eroded by time, and becomes even more urgent given the renewed warning signals. The head of state, in fact, called for the "recurrence and spread" of racist and anti-Semitic manifestations, calling them an indicator of "high danger" that calls for "rigorous action" by authorities across the European Union.
"There is no place in the Republic": the principle against discrimination and violence
The president's speech follows a path that is both institutional and civil: in the Italian Republic, he emphasized, there can be no room for the "poison of racial hatred," for the seeds of discrimination and for the "still dangerously resurfacing" anti-Semitism, nor for those who preach violence or cultivate ideologies of oppression and domination. It is a reminder that links current events to the very nature of democracy, because intolerance is not just a crime or an insult to coexistence: it is an attack on the foundations on which the rule of law is based.
The Shoah as a Planned Extermination: The "Machine" and Widespread Complicity
Mattarella also emphasized the historical nature of the Holocaust, describing it as a long-planned extermination, planned with "shocking efficiency," down to the smallest detail. In calling for responsibility, the head of state evoked the involvement of broad sectors of the Nazi state and society: from jurists to doctors, from scientists to bureaucrats, from the military to citizens transformed into informers. This reference underscores the mechanism by which hatred becomes systemic: when propaganda, conformism, and opportunism make the abyss "normal."
Solidarity with Liliana Segre: "Vulgarity and imbecility" do not erase the gravity of the situation.
One of the harshest passages was dedicated to Senator for Life Liliana Segre. Mattarella expressed the Republic's gratitude for her testimony and, at the same time, solidarity and affection in the face of the attacks she suffered, which he described as "full" of "vulgarity and imbecility." These words did not mitigate, but rather qualified the threat: for the President, the very resurgence of hatred, even when it takes trivial forms, remains a signal to be taken with the utmost seriousness because it indicates a climate capable of becoming radicalized.
"Republic Born from the Blood of Deportees": The Connection Between Memory and the Constitution
In his speech, the President of the Republic linked Holocaust Remembrance Day to the birth of the Italian Republic. The Republic and the Constitution, he recalled, were born in response to the inhumane and bloodthirsty ideologies that poisoned the first half of the twentieth century and arose "from the innocent blood" of those deported to extermination camps and of freedom fighters. The political meaning of this framework is clear: it is not simply a matter of remembering, but of recognizing that the institutional antidote to hatred is inscribed in the Constitution and in the history that generated it.
Meloni: "Anti-Semitism is a disease that is spreading again."
The ceremony and day of commemoration were accompanied by a statement from Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who condemned the fascist regime's complicity in the persecutions, roundups, and deportations, recalling the ignominy of the racial laws of 1938. In the same statement, the prime minister emphasized that anti-Semitism has not been definitively defeated, calling it a "disease" that has returned to spread in new and virulent forms, and reaffirming her commitment to combating all its forms.
The Pope: No to all forms of anti-Semitism, a call to "Nostra Aetate"
Among the institutional voices, Pope Leo XIV also intervened with a public message in which he reaffirmed the Church's fidelity to the position expressed in the declaration "Nostra Aetate" and the rejection of any discrimination or harassment based on ethnicity, language, nationality, or religion. This appeal places the memory of the Shoah within a moral responsibility that transcends national borders and questions believers and non-believers alike on the common ground of human dignity.
Why January 27: Auschwitz, the UN, and Italian Law
The date of January 27th commemorates the liberation of the Auschwitz camp, which has become a universal symbol of extermination. In Italy, the anniversary was established by Law No. 211 of July 20, 2000, which dedicates Holocaust Remembrance Day to the memory of the Holocaust, the racial laws, and the Italian military and political deportees, as well as those who opposed the extermination plan, risking their lives to save others.
The warning of the present: Memory as democratic vigilance
A common thread emerges across the institutional messages: remembering is not a ritual, but an exercise in vigilance. Mattarella links the resurgence of racism and anti-Semitism to a systemic risk, affecting the stability of European democracies; Meloni insists on the historic condemnation of fascist responsibilities and the need to prevent new forms of hatred; the Pope recalls the responsibility to reject all discrimination. Holocaust Remembrance Day, thus, returns to being not only a commemoration of the past, but also a lens for recognizing the signs of the present and preventing their normalization.
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