Laboratoire italien

The presence of the Holocaust of the Shoah in Italian public discourse has changed profoundly in recent decades. In 2001, legislation instituted Holocaust Remembrance Day (27 January). This date marked the official recognition of the events of the Holocaust in the Italian civil calendar, as well as the ritualisation and overproduction of remembrance. Paradoxically, the Italian law instituting the official commemoration of 27 January does not mention the term ‘fascism’. The constant commemoration of the ‘Righteous’, i.e. those who saved the Jews, has prevailed in public discourse over the memory of the Italians who arrested Jews in 1943-1945, collaborating with the Germans in their deportation. The more recent ‘postmemory’ phase suggests a possible move beyond monumentalisation