Italian Holocaust survivor and Senator-for-life Liliana Segre has blasted people making comparisons between COVID-19 vaccinations to the persecution of Jews by the Nazis.
The 90-year-old told Jewish newspaper Pagine Ebraiche that these comparisons were “crazy” and a mix of “bad taste and ignorance”.
“The distorted use of Memory of the Shoah is a shameful trend that has been going on for a while”, she pointed out “After having seen Anne Frank’s beloved face used in the stadium (as an antisemitic sticker by fans of Lazio, ed.), I am not surprised at anything. I’m not saying I’m numb, but I’ve got thick skin”, says the Senator.
The impossible comparisons between the Jewish persecution and the provisions on vaccines are “follies, gestures in which bad taste meets ignorance. Since I hope I am neither ignorant or have bad taste, I don’t get too mad”.
However, condemning those who refuse the vaccine, those who rant about ‘health dictatorship’ and make senseless references to racist laws is a duty, she added.
“It is such a time of ignorance and violence, not anymore repressed, that it has become ripe for these distortions. It is a school that has been accepted in which the bullies are the strongest […]In any case, I want to hope that those protesters represent a minority. Because how can you not get vaccinated against this terrible disease that has been killing without distinction?”.
Just for being vaccinated, Segre has been the object of many online attacks of the haters. “Incredible, even for that they attacked me. They said I had shares in Pfizer. Unfortunately, I don’t”, is Segre’s ironic reply to the conspiracy theories circulating about her. “Even these lies don’t surprise me. Let’s remember all the falsehoods about the attack on the Twin Towers, with some accusing the Jews of being responsible”.
The Senator message to the anti-vaccine conspirators is clear. “If one wants to see conspiracy everywhere, well stay home. Alone. You don’t go around the streets, you don’t go into the world, you don’t harm others. But I know, those who make those kinds of choices usually don’t care about others”.
