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https://www.theguardian.com/football/2017/oct/24/lazio-anne-frank-diary-antisemitism-serie-a
Anne Frank diary to be read at Serie A games after Lazio fans’ antisemitism
Agencies
Last modified on Tuesday 24 October 2017 16.23 BST
The Lazio president, Claudio Lotito, lays a wreath at the synagogue in Rome on Tuesday. Photograph: Claudio Peri/EPA
The Italian football federation (FICG) has said a passage from Anne Frank’s diary will be read before matches this week in response to acts of antisemitism by Laziofans and to keep alive memories of the Holocaust.
The FIGC also says a minute of silence will be observed before Serie A, B and C matches this week, plus amateur and youth games over the weekend.
During Sunday’s league game against Cagliari Lazio fans defaced their Stadio Olimpico home in Rome with antisemitic graffiti and stickers showing images of Frank, the young diarist who died in the Holocaust, wearing a jersey of their city rivals Roma.
An image of Frank will be put on Lazio’s shirts for Wednesday’s game at Bologna, the club said, to demonstrate their fight against “all forms of racism and antisemitism”.
Lazio’s president, Claudio Lotito, has visited Rome’s main synagogue and promised a new antisemitism education campaign. Lotito said the club would be intensifying their efforts to combat racism and antisemitism and announced Lazio would organise an annual trip to the Auschwitz concentration camp with 200 young fans to “educate them not to forget”.
Lazio fans have a history of racist and antisemitic behaviour, including a Lazio banner in the city derby nearly 20 years ago aimed at Roma supporters that read: “Auschwitz Is Your Homeland; The Ovens Are Your Homes.”
The head of the European Parliament has also denounced Lazio fans’ behaviour. Antonio Tajani, who is also Italian, told the European Parliament in Strasbourg that “using the image of Anne Frank as an insult against others is a very grave matter”.
The Italian prime minister, Paolo Gentiloni, said the stickers were “unbelievable, unacceptable and to not be minimised”.
The Anne Frank diary passage reads: “I see the world being slowly transformed into a wilderness, I hear the approaching thunder that, one day, will destroy us too, I feel the suffering of millions. And yet, when I look up at the sky, I somehow feel that everything will change for the better, that this cruelty too shall end, that peace and tranquillity will return once more.”
A statement on Lazio’s website outlined the plans to place Frank’s image on the club’s shirts.
“The president of SS Lazio, Claudio Lotito, has decided that tomorrow the team will be coming to the stadium at Renato Dall’Ara Stadium in Bologna with an image of Anne Frank on the Biancoceleste shirt, demonstrating the club’s commitment to fighting all forms of racism and anti-Semitism,” it said.
Lotito announced the Auschwitz trip initiative in comments reported by Gazzetta dello Sport: “Today, I can officially announce that Lazio will partake in a new initiative, organising an annual trip to Auschwitz for 200 Lazio fans to educate and make sure we don’t forget certain episodes, so that these lads can know what it is we’re talking about.
“You can’t play around with these facts, we condemn all forms of racism. Lazio will launch this initiative.”
Anne Frank diary to be read at Serie A games after Lazio fans’ antisemitism
Agencies
Last modified on Tuesday 24 October 2017 16.23 BST
The Lazio president, Claudio Lotito, lays a wreath at the synagogue in Rome on Tuesday. Photograph: Claudio Peri/EPA
The Italian football federation (FICG) has said a passage from Anne Frank’s diary will be read before matches this week in response to acts of antisemitism by Laziofans and to keep alive memories of the Holocaust.
The FIGC also says a minute of silence will be observed before Serie A, B and C matches this week, plus amateur and youth games over the weekend.
During Sunday’s league game against Cagliari Lazio fans defaced their Stadio Olimpico home in Rome with antisemitic graffiti and stickers showing images of Frank, the young diarist who died in the Holocaust, wearing a jersey of their city rivals Roma.
An image of Frank will be put on Lazio’s shirts for Wednesday’s game at Bologna, the club said, to demonstrate their fight against “all forms of racism and antisemitism”.
Lazio’s president, Claudio Lotito, has visited Rome’s main synagogue and promised a new antisemitism education campaign. Lotito said the club would be intensifying their efforts to combat racism and antisemitism and announced Lazio would organise an annual trip to the Auschwitz concentration camp with 200 young fans to “educate them not to forget”.
Lazio fans have a history of racist and antisemitic behaviour, including a Lazio banner in the city derby nearly 20 years ago aimed at Roma supporters that read: “Auschwitz Is Your Homeland; The Ovens Are Your Homes.”
The head of the European Parliament has also denounced Lazio fans’ behaviour. Antonio Tajani, who is also Italian, told the European Parliament in Strasbourg that “using the image of Anne Frank as an insult against others is a very grave matter”.
The Italian prime minister, Paolo Gentiloni, said the stickers were “unbelievable, unacceptable and to not be minimised”.
The Anne Frank diary passage reads: “I see the world being slowly transformed into a wilderness, I hear the approaching thunder that, one day, will destroy us too, I feel the suffering of millions. And yet, when I look up at the sky, I somehow feel that everything will change for the better, that this cruelty too shall end, that peace and tranquillity will return once more.”
A statement on Lazio’s website outlined the plans to place Frank’s image on the club’s shirts.
“The president of SS Lazio, Claudio Lotito, has decided that tomorrow the team will be coming to the stadium at Renato Dall’Ara Stadium in Bologna with an image of Anne Frank on the Biancoceleste shirt, demonstrating the club’s commitment to fighting all forms of racism and anti-Semitism,” it said.
Lotito announced the Auschwitz trip initiative in comments reported by Gazzetta dello Sport: “Today, I can officially announce that Lazio will partake in a new initiative, organising an annual trip to Auschwitz for 200 Lazio fans to educate and make sure we don’t forget certain episodes, so that these lads can know what it is we’re talking about.
“You can’t play around with these facts, we condemn all forms of racism. Lazio will launch this initiative.”
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