Italian doctor displays Holocaust-denying material in waiting room

Authorities will investigate an anti-Semitic, Holocaust-denying doctor in northern Italy who keeps a bust of Hitler in his office.

By JTA
Bust of Adolf Hitler (photo credit: REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch)
Bust of Adolf Hitler
(photo credit: REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch)
ROME – Italian authorities will investigate an anti-Semitic, Holocaust-denying doctor in northern Italy who keeps a bust of Hitler in his office and displays fascist propaganda in his waiting room.
Jewish lawmaker Emanuele Fiano in a statement last week to the Italian Parliament called on Italy’s Interior and Health ministers to investigate whether the behavior of Dr. Gianantonio Valli, 64, is compatible with that of a national health physician.
Fiano said Valli was “one of the principal theorists in our country of Holocaust denial, declared himself to be a ‘Nazi-inspired fascist,’ and publicly manifests xenophobic, racist and anti-Semitic ideas.”
The daily La Repubblica quoted Valli – who has described himself as “completely fascist, that is, Nazi” – as saying “I see myself in the tradition of the pagan realism, and I’m radically opposed to all aberrant Jewish religion and philosophy.”
La Repubblica described a variety of xenophobic and Holocaust-denying pamphlets and other material on display in the waiting room of Valli’s office in the small town of Cuveglio, near the Swiss border.
Valli, who has authored a number of such publications, confirmed to the newspaper that he had a bust of Hitler on display in his upstairs library. A year ago, at a rally in Milan, Valli gave a lengthy speech accusing a Jewish-run lobby of plotting to take over the world.
La Repubblica said Italy’s national medical association also planned to probe Valli’s activities to determine if they were in line with guidelines for medical professionals. The newspaper said that in Cuveglio, local citizens were circulating a petition in support of Valli.