South Tyrolean Council Expresses Indignation over Goebbels' Deportation
A local politician from Italy's right-wing party, Fratelli d'Italia, stirred controversy in South Tyrol by citing Nazi Germany's Propaganda Minister, Joseph Goebbels, in a now-deleted Facebook post. City councilor Diego Salvadori wrote, "The flag doesn't guide the people, but the people must follow the flag. Joseph Goebbels, Propaganda Minister of the Third Reich," in response to a rainbow flag displayed at a technology park.
Politicians from various parties have voiced their outrage over Salvadori's reference. In South Tyrol, a predominantly German-speaking region in northern Italy, criticism traversed party lines. Governor Arno Kompatscher of the conservative South Tyrolean People's Party (SVP) urged his colleague, deputy governor Marco Galateo (also from Fratelli), to dissociate himself from the post. The Greens condemned the act as glorifying Nazism.
Galateo, who had already liked the post prior to its removal, apologized for the "typo" that led to his endorsement. Salvadori, too, issued an apology for the "inappropriate quote." It's worth noting that the long-ruling SVP in South Tyrol forms a coalition with Fratelli, while Fratella chair Giorgia Meloni heads a coalition of right-wing and conservative parties in Rome since 2022.
Fratelli d'Italia is a party steeped in nationalist and conservative ideologies with roots in the post-fascist movement, which, in the context of South Tyrol's history of forced Italianization under the fascist regime, has left enduring tensions.[1] Given the extremist and propagandistic nature of Joseph Goebbels, referring to him in South Tyrol, a region exposed to the harsh realities of fascism and Nazi propaganda, can be perceived as provocative due to these associations.[1]
[1] South Tyrol's long-standing struggle with fascism and Nazi policies, including forced Italianization and oppression of minorities, have left an indelible mark on the region. These historical traumas linked to authoritarianism, propaganda, and ethnic oppression are likely to be retriggered by invoking Goebbels and the broader fascist ideology.
The general news in South Tyrol is abuzz with the recent politics surrounding a war-and-conflicts policy-and-legislation issue. This controversy stems from a local politician's crime-and-justice blunder, Diego Salvadori from Italy's Fratelli d'Italia party, who cited Nazi Germany's Propaganda Minister, Joseph Goebbels, in a now-deleted Facebook post. His reference has been widely condemned as glorifying Nazism, with criticism coming from various parties, including the Greens, and even from within his own party.
