Jan. 21


ITALY:

Italy to make its first Holocaust monument


Italy plans to erect a black marble plaque with a pink triangle over it
at the site of the only Nazi concentration camp in the nation.

The pink triangle was the symbol sewn by Nazis on the uniforms of
homosexuals imprisoned in the death camps of the Third Reich, the
Independent reported Friday.

The unveiling Wednesday at San Sabba, a rice mill near Trieste converted
into a concentration camp by the Nazis in 1943, will be the first public
recognition in Italy of the suffering of gays under fascism.

Arcigay, Italy's most prominent gay rights group, will dedicate the
symbol.

"The plaque is important," says Sergio lo Giudice, president of Arcigay,
who will do the unveiling. "It's a sign that something in Italy is
changing."

(source: United Press International)





SLOVAKIA:

Slovakia Jews protest legalizing Holocaust denial


Slovakia's Jewish community protested Friday a proposal to remove a law
punishing Holocaust denial from the country's penal code.

The law was included in the penal code in 2001, but the Justice Ministry
has proposed that it be removed as part of the code's comprehensive
amendment, arguing it limits freedom of speech.

The plan, which needs to be approved by parliament, has stirred criticism
throughout Slovakia.

The Central Union of Jewish Religious Communities said Friday it was
"publicly expressing deep concern" over the plan.

The group appealed to Slovakia's lawmakers "not to help legalize neo-Nazi
activities" and urged them to vote against the proposal.

The amendment of Slovakia's penal code is to be voted on in parliament
next month.

(source: Associated Press)




GERMANY:

Rightwing MP's refuse to honour Nazi victims


Rightwing extremist lawmakers refused on Friday to take part in ceremonies
honouring the victims of Nazi horrors, demanding instead that the Allied
destruction of Dresden be condemned.

Members of the National Party of Germany (NPD) demonstrably remained
seated as other members of the Saxony State Legislature rose and observed
a minute of silence for the millions who died at the hands of the Nazis.

Several NPD legislators stalked out of the chambers, slamming doors behind
them.

During subsequent debate, the NPD lawmakers accused other political
parties of failing to "pay proper respect to the true victims" - the tens

of thousands of Dresden residents who died in a British RAF carpet-bombing
raid on the city on 13 February 1945.

The NPD demanded a resolution condemning "Allied atrocities" committed
against the German people.

Legislature speaker Cornelius Weiss, a Social Democrat, rejected that
proposal out of hand.

"We must never forget the Dresden inferno," Weiss told the legislature.
"But we must also not forget how things came to that juncture in the first
place."

The rightwing party, which swept into the legislature in an election in
September in economically hard-hit eastern Germany, also announced plans
for an anti-Allies protest march on 13 February, the 60th anniversary of
the devastating bombing raids.

Some 5,000 rightwing extremists from throughout Germany are expected to be
on hand for the Dresden march.

(source: Expatica)