An iPhone application devoted to Benito Mussolini, one of the key figures in the creation of Fascism, has been criticised after record downloads on Holocaust Memorial Day.
iMussolini beat blockbuster games including Avatar on the Italian iTunes App Store on Wednesday 27th January. That date was chosen for the Holocaust Memorial Day (HMD), as it is the anniversary of the day in 1945 on which the Soviet Army liberated the largest Nazi concentration camp - Auschwitz-Birkenau.
The application offers biographical information and a chance to read hundreds of speeches, along with video clips of the dictator in action. Mussolini ruled Italy from 1922 until his death in 1945 at the end of World War II.
The man behind iMussolini defended the iPhone application. "It’s a delicate page in our history that should never be forgotten,” Luigi Marino told Bloomberg News. "I’m stunned by the success of the application. I’ve had complaints, but also lots of positive feedback asking me to keep updating."
Typically, a Milan-based spokeswoman for Apple declined to comment.
Available from the Apple iTunes App Store, iMussolini costs 59p and requires the iPhone 3.0 Software Update or later. iMussolini is presented in Italian only.
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