The president of the senate, Ignacio La Russa, found himself again, today, in the eye of the hurricane. He is a founding member of the “Brothers of Italy” party and in an earlier statement he had revealed that he had placed a bust of Benito Mussolini in his residence.

Today, during an interview, La Russa referred to one of the most dramatic moments in Italian history. In the execution, in an attack by the partisan rebels, on a group of policemen from South Tyrol, operating in Rome, in the spring of 1944, under the orders of the Nazis. From the attack, 33 men lost their lives and 55 were injured. The next day, in retaliation, the Nazis executed 335 Italian resistance fighters, Jews, dissidents, and common criminals at the Ardeatic Caves, just outside the Eternal City.

“This attack by the rebels is a far from exemplary page of the resistance. They murdered a musical band of semi-retired, non-SS Nazis, while knowing they would expose the citizens of Rome to the risk of reprisals,” La Russa said.

“I am impressed by how, every day, La Russa manages to prove that he does not have the necessary stature to be president of the senate,” said Carlo Calenda, leader of the centrist Azione (Action) party.

The Five Stars consider the specific statements “the result of revisionism” but also “an effort aimed at distracting the citizens from the real problems of the country”.

“These statements are aimed at the historical acquittal of fascism and the slander of the resistance against the fascist dictatorship. These are words that do not derive the dignity that befits a high institutional position, such as that of the head of the senate,” Gianfranco Pagliarulo, president of the Italian Association of Italian Rebel Guerrillas, emphasized, finally.