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Antisemitic graffiti sprayed on house in Italy where anti-Nazi resistance fighter lived

‘Jew Here’ scrawled on house of now-deceased member of anti-fascist resistance who survived Nazi concentration camp

Zoe Tidman
Saturday 25 January 2020 14:19 GMT
Aldo Rolfi in front of his home in Mondovi after it was defaced with antisemitic graffiti
Aldo Rolfi in front of his home in Mondovi after it was defaced with antisemitic graffiti

The family home of an Italian anti-fascist resistance fighter and writer has been defaced with antisemitic graffiti.

The words "Juden hier", German for "Jews here", and a Star of David were painted on the door of the property where Lidia Rolfi, who was deported to a Nazi concentration camp for political reasons, used to live and where her son still resides.

People gathered around the house in the town of Mondovi, in the northern Piedmont region, to demonstrate against antisemitism and hear Aldo Rolfi speak following the incident, which came several days before the international day of commemoration for Holocaust victims.

“It seems quite strange to me,” Mr Rolfi told local media, explaining that he is not particularly active in a public or political sphere.

Bruno Maida, a historian at the University of Turin, called the antisemitic grafitti “patent ignorance”, given that Rolfi was not Jewish and was sent to Ravensbrueck, a concentration camp for woman in Germany, for her political activism.

He said he suspected the graffiti could be linked to Mr Rolfi’s recent article in a local newspaper about how his mother – who died in 1996 – predicted antisemitism today.

Politicians have condemned the targeting of Rolfi’s house, with the local mayor saying: “I strongly condemn this dreadful act as the mayor and as a citizen.”

Elena Bonetti, Italy's minister for equal opportunities and family, shared an image of the grafitti, saying: “Italy must repudiate antisemitism with all its moral strength.”

Rolfi joined the anti-Nazi resistance in December 1943, was arrested several months later and was sent to the concentration camp. She was freed about a year later, and wrote about her detention in the book The Women of Ravensbrueck.

Aldo Rolfi speaks to participants of a demonstration against antisemitism

The road where her house is located in Mondovi is named after her, as is a local primary school.

The attack on Rolfi’s house is being investigated, according to local authorities.

The incident comes amid warnings over a rise in antisemitism across Europe, with Jewish graves being defaced with swastikas in France and plans for a new Nazi party discovered in Italy towards the end of last year.

A politician was punched in the street in Venice on New Year’s Eve in what was thought to be an antisemitic assault.

World leaders met in Israel last week to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz concentration camp, while memorials will take place around the world on Monday for International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

Additional reporting by Associated Press

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