Fabio Maroni, a right-wing politician from Italy, caused a stir when he called Milan senator, who survived the Auschwitz concentration camp, Liliana Sagra, in a number tattooed on her arm.
Following a debate over Corona vaccines, he posted a Facebook post that read: "All that was missing in the discussion about these vaccines is ... 75190".
The scandalous post was removed after members of the center-left party called on him to apologize, "The comparison between vaccines and Nazi fascism harms history, humanity."
In response Maroni said he did not appreciate Sagra's determination that vaccines are the only way out of the epidemic and claimed she was not a doctor.
He further said that he used the number instead of her name "to avoid being blocked on Facebook".
But later he issued a public apology and said: "In a climate of hatred I have unfortunately expressed my thoughts in a completely wrong way."
75190.
He thought of this thing, with the registration number that he got when he was born at Auschwitz.
The motive?
If you are interested in vaccines and science.
The protagonist is the legionnaire Fabio Meroni.
The victim is Senator Liliana Segre.
pic.twitter.com/rY2GbpXUMP
- Più Europa (@Piu_Europa) November 20, 2021
Maroni's apology did not calm the spirits.
The president of Milan's Jewish community, Walker Magnagi, said it was intolerable for a person in public office to use derogatory terms.
The sharpest condemnation came from the National Division of the Italian Partisans.
The association's president, Roberto Santi, said Maroni's words were "unacceptable and shameful. Maroni used the language of the Nazis, in which they dismissed the personalities of those who came to the concentration camps."
This is not the first time Sagra has suffered antisemitic remarks as part of her views on the Corona.
In February, after receiving the first dose of the vaccine, she was encouraged to get vaccinated and provoked a wave of antisemitic insults on social media, condemned by Italian Interior Minister Luciana Lamorge and said: "This is a new and unacceptable attack, a combination of hatred, violence and racism."
Last year Sagra was under police protection, following threats to her life.