A report in The Times says that Jewish groups and Holocaust survivors are angry with Apple.

At issue is an app called iMussolini: The man who changed the history of our country, which is the current bestseller on Italy's App store, and is being downloaded about 1,000 times a day.

Luigi Marino, the app's 25 year old creator, told the paper that his creation is a collection of audio, video and text speeches, and was launched earlier this month.

Its popularity, however, has offended the Jewish community, one of whom, Leone Soued, head of the Jewish community in Milan, said, "One can hope it will not be a success, but I can understand why the man in the street might download it." Soued added that Apple is, "a serious multinational which deserves respect for its innovations".

Other commentators went further. Tullia Zevi, former head of the Jewish community in Rome, described the app as contributing to "the slide towards legitimising fascism and the rehabilitation of Mussolini", while Armando Cossutta, deputy head of the Italian Association of Partisans, added that it was "an unacceptable attempt to exalt a filthy past".

So far Apple has not commented. Maybe it is too busy working on licensing a new iFührer app.

03 Feb 2010