holocaust

A Museum Dedicated to Anti-Fascist Fighters in WWII-Era Italy Will Open in Milan

As the world grapples with a terrifying rise of re-emerging fascist ideology, there’s been a corresponding global push to acknowledge those who fought fascism and repression in the past, and to painstakingly preserve their histories and efforts. On Monday, Italy’s culture ministry definitively signed off on funding for a project that’s been in the works for years: the Museo Nazionale della Resistenza, or the National Resistance Museum, which will be built in Milan and dedicated to the Italian resistance fighters who often squared off against German troops while simultaneously resisting Mussolini’s attempts to conscript them during World War II. The museum, which just received additional funding of 15 million euro from Italy’s cultural ministry in addition to the 2.5 million euro it had already been designated, will be built by the Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron. Historian Paolo Pezzino of the resistance movement-focused Parri Institute told Italian media that the museum’s facilities will include multimedia elements and a variety of objects relating to the Italian liberators. “The memory of those who fought to restore freedom to Italy must be preserved and passed on, not to reproduce divisions, but to reinforce and spread awareness, especially among the younger generations, of the priceless value of democracy and freedom,” Sergio Mattarella, the president of Italy, said in a statement.

via observer: A Museum Dedicated to Anti-Fascist Fighters in WWII-Era Italy Will Open in Milan

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KZ-Gedenkstätte Mauthausen mit Hakenkreuzen beschmiert

Unbekannte Täter malten Nazi-Symbole auf Denkmal für im KZ Mauthausen ermordete Niederländer. “Wir sind zutiefst erschüttert und verurteilen diese Straftat auf das Schärfste”, heißt es in einer Aussendung der KZ-Gedenkstätte Mauthausen. Ausgelöst haben die Entrüstung unbekannte Täter, die am Donnerstag auf dem Gelände des früheren Konzentrationslagers insgesamt fünf Hakenkreuze auf das niederländische Nationalmonument schmierten. Auf dem Denkmal sind die Namen von mehr als 1600 im KZ Mauthausen ermordeten Niederländern angeführt.

via nachricten.at: KZ-Gedenkstätte Mauthausen mit Hakenkreuzen beschmiert

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Torchlit march in #Kyiv honors Nazi-linked nationalist – #bandera #ukraine #holocaust #

1,000 far-right activists commemorate 111th birthday of Stepan Bandera, whose followers have been linked to the mass murders of Jews. Ukrainian far-right supporters on Wednesday held a torchlight procession in the capital to mark the birthday of a nationalist leader who sided with the Nazis during part of World War II. The march in Kyiv by about 1,000 far-right supporters commemorated the 111th birthday of Stepan Bandera, lauded by nationalists as a hero. Bandera was a leader of Ukraine’s nationalist movement, which included an insurgent army that for one period during the war sided with the Nazis. With the rise of nationalism and anti-Russian sentiment in Ukraine, Bandera is being rehabilitated in the country as a patriotic, anti-Soviet hero. Jewish groups have linked Bandera’s followers to the mass murders of Jews. Ukrainian Police said the march ended peacefully and there were no arrests. During World War II, the Bandera served as Providnyk — a title analogous to the German fuehrer — of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists, a brutally violent and authoritarian Ukrainian ultranationalist organization that had collaborated with the Nazis. Formed from a merger of fascist and far-right groups, the OUN, as it is known colloquially, had engaged in a sustained campaign of terror and political assassination during the interwar period, when western Ukraine was under Polish control. By 1940, the organization split and the elder Bandera took over the larger faction, OUN-B, which subsequently adopted a 1941 manifesto calling on its members to “liquidate undesirable Poles, Muscovites, and Jews.” (…) Among Holocaust historians, the consensus is that the OUN and its military offshoot, known as the UPA, were responsible for the deaths of thousands of Jews and up to 100,000 Poles during the war (estimates vary).

via timnesofisrael: Torchlit march in Kyiv honors Nazi-linked nationalist

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