In Italy, Liberation Day became a test of memory — a Jewish column, a Ukrainian flag, and new old slogans

April 25 in Italy is not just a public holiday. It is Liberation Day from Nazism and Fascism, a date around which post-war national memory has been built for decades. But in 2025 and 2026, this day increasingly appeared not as a unified anti-fascist ritual, but as a field of political confrontation, where Jewish participants in the marches and people with Ukrainian flags came under attack.

In Milan in 2026, descendants of the Jewish Brigade fighters and representatives of the Jewish community were forced to leave the column of the traditional march under police protection. According to Italian and Israeli media reports, pro-Palestinian activists shouted at them “murderers,” “out Zionists,” and a phrase about “unrealized soap”—a direct reference to the Nazi dehumanization of Jews.

For Israel, this story sounds particularly harsh. The Jewish Brigade was not an accidental symbol at someone else’s celebration, but part of the real history of Italy’s liberation. This unit of the British Army was created in 1944 and included more than 5,000 Jewish volunteers from Eretz Israel; the brigade’s fighters participated in battles on the Italian front in 1945.

Milan: when the memory of liberation is pushed out of the column

According to ANSA, the conflict in Milan lasted more than two hours. The Jewish Brigade column was eventually led aside, while pro-Palestinian groups continued to shout “out Zionists from Milan”; law enforcement stood between the participants and the aggressive crowd.

This is an important detail.

The police were effectively unable to ensure the normal participation of the Jewish column in the march dedicated to liberation from the Nazi-Fascist regime. That is, the descendants of those who fought against Nazism found themselves in a situation where their presence was declared a “provocation” due to Jewish and Israeli symbolism.

Why the phrase about “soap” is not just an insult

Insults against Jews at the anti-fascist march cannot be dismissed as “crowd emotions.” The phrase about “soap” refers to one of the darkest layers of 20th-century anti-Semitic memory, where Jewish life was turned into an object of mockery, and the memory of the Holocaust became a tool of humiliation.

That is why the reaction of the Jewish community was so painful. It was not just about an anti-Israel slogan, but about language that brings Nazi logic of depersonalization back into the public space.

In this sense, Milan on April 25, 2026, became a worrying signal not only for Italy but also for Israel. When at a march against fascism, Jews are shouted phrases related to the memory of the Holocaust, it is no longer a political dispute about the Middle East. It is a failure of historical memory.

The Jewish Brigade is not a foreign element in Italian history

The Jewish Brigade fought precisely where today some activists are trying to push its heirs out of the anti-fascist space. As part of the British forces, Jewish volunteers from Eretz Israel participated in the liberation of Northern Italy and became one of the symbols of Jewish armed resistance to Nazism.

For the future of Israel, this had special significance.

Jews were not only victims of the Holocaust. They fought, liberated Europe, saved survivors, participated in post-war refugee assistance, and became part of the historical line that then led to the creation of the State of Israel.

Therefore, the attempt to present the flags of the Jewish Brigade as “foreign” on Italy’s Liberation Day looks historically absurd. This is not a foreign memory. It is one of its central parts.

The Ukrainian flag as a new target: Venice, Bologna, Rome, Perugia

A similar logic manifested itself in relation to Ukrainian symbolism.

In Venice on April 25, 2025, a writer and artist came to the march with a Ukrainian flag, which she called a symbol of the modern struggle against fascism. According to Corriere del Veneto, participants from the ultra-left and pro-Palestinian part of the column shouted through a megaphone “Nato terrorist,” “Ukraine Nazi,” tried to snatch the flag, and, according to the victim, even tried to set it on fire.

This did not happen on a random street and not on an ordinary day.

It happened on April 25, on the 80th anniversary of Italy’s liberation from fascism, in a city where the march is traditionally associated with the memory of deported Jews and ends in the space of the Venetian ghetto.

From “anti-fascism” to accusations of Ukraine in Nazism

In these incidents, not only the aggression against a specific person with a flag is important. The set of slogans itself is important.

The Ukrainian flag was called “Nazi,” and the people carrying it “Nazis.” This almost verbatim coincides with the key line of Russian propaganda, which since 2022 has been trying to present the war against Ukraine as a “fight against Nazism.”

For the Israeli audience, there is an additional layer here. When the word “Nazism” is used not to describe real Nazism, but as a club against Ukraine, the memory of World War II becomes a tool of political manipulation. And the more often this happens on European streets, the weaker the anti-fascist tradition itself becomes.

NANews — News of Israel | Nikk.Agency considers such cases not as separate street conflicts, but as part of a broader problem: the memory of the Holocaust, war, Jewish resistance, Ukraine, and Israel today again becomes a field of struggle for meaning.

2026 showed: this is no longer a single episode

In 2026, reports of conflicts around Ukrainian flags appeared in several Italian cities. Italian press materials and public sources mentioned Bologna, Rome, and Perugia: in one case, an elderly former professor with flags of Italy, the EU, and Ukraine was led out of the column; in another, activists reported the tearing of Ukrainian flags and the use of pepper spray; in Perugia, the conflict was also related to Ukrainian symbolism.

Here it is important to maintain accuracy: some of these episodes require further verification by official police materials. But the general outline is already visible. Ukrainian symbolism at Italian anti-fascist marches has become an irritant for groups that call themselves anti-fascist but at the same time effectively repeat the theses of Kremlin propaganda.

And this is the main paradox.

If April 25 is the day of liberation from fascism, then the Ukrainian flag after Russia’s full-scale invasion should be perceived as a symbol of resistance to aggression. But in the radical environment, it is increasingly declared a “provocation,” as is the Jewish symbolism of the Jewish Brigade.

What this means for Israel, Ukraine, and Europe

Italy is facing not just street polarization. It is facing a crisis of the language of memory.

When on Liberation Day Jews are shouted about “soap,” it is no longer a dispute about Gaza. When the Ukrainian flag is called “Nazi,” it is no longer a criticism of NATO. When the Jewish Brigade is pushed out of the column, it is no longer an organizational conflict.

It is a question of who today has the right to the memory of the fight against Nazism.

The Russian trace is not always direct, but the logic is noticeable

It is not necessary to prove that every shout in the column is controlled by Moscow. Modern propaganda usually does not work that way.

It is enough for the Kremlin to throw convenient formulas for years: “Ukraine is Nazi,” “the West is to blame,” “NATO is an aggressor,” “Israel is a colonial project,” “Hamas and Iran are part of anti-imperialist resistance.” Then these formulas begin to live independently—in ultra-right, ultra-left, pro-Palestinian, and anti-Western circles.

For Israel, this is especially dangerous because the same ideological stream often connects anti-Ukrainian, anti-Israeli, and anti-Western rhetoric. Yesterday it justifies Russia’s aggression against Ukraine. Today it erases the contribution of the Jewish Brigade. Tomorrow it explains hatred of Israel as “anti-Zionism,” even when direct anti-Semitic references are made.

Why April 25 became a test of honesty

Italy’s Liberation Day should remind of the price Europe paid for fascism, Nazism, dictatorship, and mass destruction of people. But memory cannot be protected by slogans if at the same time Jews and Ukrainians are squeezed out of this memory.

For Israel, the Jewish Brigade is not a decorative historical symbol. It is a reminder that Jews not only survived the catastrophe but also fought Nazism with weapons in hand.

For Ukraine, the blue-yellow flag today is not abstract geopolitics. It is a sign of a country that resists invasion, missile strikes, deportations, occupation, and attempts to erase its identity.

And if these two symbols become targets at anti-fascist marches, then the problem is no longer in the symbols themselves. The problem is in those who replaced anti-fascism with hatred and memory with political convenience.

The finale without self-deception

The history of Milan, Venice, Bologna, Rome, and Perugia shows: European commemorative dates are no longer protected from modern wars of meanings. Not only people of memory come to them, but also activists with ready-made slogans, where Israel becomes an enemy, Ukraine “Nazis,” and real Jewish anti-fascists unwanted participants in the march.

This is a painful but important lesson.

Europe will not be able to honestly talk about victory over fascism if it remains silent when Jews are pushed out of the Liberation Day column. It will not be able to protect the memory of World War II if it allows Russian propaganda to rewrite the meaning of Ukrainian resistance. And it will not be able to fight anti-Semitism if it hides it behind politically convenient words.

For Israel and Ukraine, there is a common point here: both countries today face not only a physical threat but also a war for the right to be understood correctly.

Therefore, it is important to analyze such topics to the end—and to monitor how they develop further.