Mural Commemorating Italian Holocaust Survivors Defaced in Milan

A powerful mural in Milan commemorating Holocaust survivors Liliana Segre and Sami Modiano has been defaced by vandals, who scratched out the survivors' faces and the yellow stars of David in the artwork. The mural, created by Italian artist and activist aleXsandro Palombo, depicts Segre and Modiano in striped uniforms with yellow stars on bulletproof vests, symbolizing the resilience and memory of the Holocaust.

The defaced mural, titled Anti-Semitism, History Repeating, stands in Piazzale Loreto, a prominent Milan square. Italy’s Holocaust memorial museum, Fondazione Museo della Shoah, condemned the vandalism as an attempt to undermine Holocaust memory, which they emphasize is “essential for building a conscious and just society.” Museum president Mario Venezia stated, “These thugs tried to distort the sense of memory, but they failed. A scratch doesn’t erase people, or what was.”

The defacement has sparked widespread outrage, with Democratic Party politician Piero Fassino denouncing the act as an expression of “cowardice and antisemitic impulses that are manifesting themselves with ever greater aggressiveness.” The incident follows the defacing of other works by Palombo, including a mural commemorating a survivor of the October 7 Nova music festival attack in Israel and a piece featuring Anne Frank next to a Gazan girl, a work intended to encourage reflection on humanity amid conflict.

Palombo’s latest piece outside the Iranian consulate in Milan also fell victim to vandalism. This mural, portraying Iranian student Ahoo Daryaei, was an homage to her defiance against mandatory hijab laws. Palombo expressed concern over the escalating antisemitic and oppressive forces at play, noting that such acts aim to “drag humanity into an infernal vortex that has no end.”

As Palombo continues to use art as a means to honor memory and resist oppression, these recent acts of defacement underscore the need for vigilance against antisemitism and intolerance.

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