Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. Photo: Wiki Commons.

JNS.org – Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi outraged Italian Jews after comparing his family’s legal issues to the persecution of Jews during the Holocaust in an interview with Italian journalist Bruno Vespa. The comments were released as part of an advance excerpt of the Vespa’s book on Wednesday.

Berlusconi was asked if his five children have told him to sell his media empire and leave Italy in order to avoid more legal difficulties. “My children say that they feel like Jewish families in Germany under Hitler’s regime. Truly, everyone is against us,” he answered, Reuters reported.

This comparison “is not only inappropriate and incomprehensible, but is offensive to the memory of those deprived of all rights and, after being subjected to atrocious and unspeakable atrocities, their lives,” said Renzo Gattegna, head of Italy’s Jewish community association.