Milan cinema does not show film about Holocaust survivors
Published: Thursday, Nov 14th 2024, 16:20
Zurück zu Live Feed
A cinema in the metropolis of Milan is refusing to show a film about Italian Holocaust survivor Liliana Segre. This is for fear of pro-Palestinian protests, as the operator of the cinema told the newspaper "La Repubblica" in an interview.
The documentary entitled "Liliana" was actually supposed to be shown there at the end of the month, but the operator of the cinema refused to show it.
"I have nothing against Jews, but put yourself in my shoes. The political climate is tense. I don't feel like taking any risks," said the operator. There are protests in Milan every week because of the situation in the Middle East. The screening of the film in his cinema would not go unnoticed by the demonstrators. "If they come and smash everything up, who will reimburse me for the damage?" he continued in the interview.
The director of the documentary, Ruggero Gabbai, made the cinema operator's refusal public a few days ago. The incident and the reasons given by the cinema operator sparked a wave of outrage in Italy, which was reported in the media.
The film tells the life story of 94-year-old Shoah survivor Liliana Segre. Segre was born into a Jewish family in Milan in 1930. After a failed escape to Switzerland with her father, she was arrested at the end of 1943 and deported to the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp in January 1944. She survived there as a worker in an armaments factory. Today she is a senator for life in Italy.
The Milanese woman has been the victim of anti-Semitic abuse and threats for some time. In her own words, Segre receives countless hate messages every day. Since the Hamas massacre in Israel on October 7, 2023 and the subsequent Gaza war, the situation has worsened. A few days ago, Segre's face and her Jewish star were scratched off a mural, which was reported in many media outlets.
©Keystone/SDA
German 
English 
French 
Spanish 
Arabic