APRIL 25 – Jewish Brigade escorted in Milan 

On 25 April, Italy’s Liberation Day from Nazi Fascism, hundreds of people took part in a rally in Milan under the flags and banners of the Union of the Italian Jewish Community, the local Jewish community and the Jewish Brigade, the Jewish volunteer corps of the British Army recruited in Mandate Palestine, the future state of Israel. “These flags have the right to participate,” stressed UCEI Vice-President Milo Hasbani. “We are here to demonstrate in full respect of the significance of this day, which marks Italy’s liberation from dictatorship.”

Concerns were raised after some pro-Palestinian movements announced their intention to protest against the Jewish presence and take the lead of the march. They failed, however, as the Jewish section rallied ahead of them, protected by the public force and the volunteers of the “City Angels” association. 

Along the way, the Jewish Brigade was greeted with a combination of protests and applause. “The Brigade was one of the fighting forces that took part in the liberation of Italy. It is important that the whole country remembers this,” said the president of the Shoah Memorial in Milan, Roberto Jarach. “At the same time, the struggles of the past and the demands of the present should not be put on the same level”.

d.r.