Holocaust survivors are protesting Italy’s best-selling iPhone application — a collection of the speeches of Italy’s World War II fascist dictator Benito Mussolini.
Launched Jan. 21, just days ahead of Italy’s annual Holocaust Remembrance Day commemoration Jan. 27, iMussolini topped the iPhone app download list on Jan. 31. It sells for about $1.10 on the Italian iTunes store.
Its creator, Luigi Marino, 25, told reporters over the weekend that it was being downloaded about 1,000 times a day. The app contains audio, video and text of more than 100 speeches dating back to 1914.
Mussolini came to power in Italy in 1922. Under his rule, Italy became a close ally of Nazi Germany; Mussolini’s regime introduced harsh anti-Semitic legislation in 1938.
Elan Steinberg, vice president of the American Gathering of Holocaust Survivors and their Descendants, said Apple’s approval and sale of the app “is a disgrace and a surrender to crass commercialism.” He also called on users to avoid posting comments about the app that celebrate or apologize for fascism. Apple has already removed some extreme comments. — jta