This book studies the persecution of Italian Jews during the Fascist period in relation to the Italian cultural tradition. It shows that Mussolini's anti-Semitic laws and Italian support for Hitler's war on the Jews stem directly from beliefs deeply embedded in Italian culture. After studying anti-Judaic characterizations in the Christian tradition and representations of Jews by Dante and other Medieval and Renaissance authors, the book shows how the anti-Semitic tradition became reinvigorated in the nineteenth century. cultural figures in the period between 1900 and 1940: the writer Giovanni Papini, the Catholic educational leader Agostino Gemelli, and the artist and critic Ardengo Soffici. The book then examines Mussolini's specific anti-Semitic policies and argues that the Italian cultural system contributed to generating the evil that led to the Holocaust. Wiley Feinstein is Associate Professor of Italian at Loyola University Chicago.

Texts of interviews conducted in the mid-1980s for the television documentary "Il coraggio e la pietà". The interviewees included Holocaust survivors and former Italian officials. The survivors stressed that they managed to survive in wartime Italy due to the sympathetic stance of non-Jewish Italians, military and civil, who, while supporting fascism, refused to collaborate with the Nazis in the annihilation of the Jewish people. Pp. xv-xxiii contain a foreword by Renzo de Felice; pp. xxv-xxxiv contain an introduction by F.R. Koffler and R. Koffler; pp. xxxv-xli contain a prologue by Mario Toscano, relating briefly the history of the Italian Jews and fascist policy towards the Jews in 1936-45.

23 essays covering 2000 years on archaeology and history, Kabbalah, language and culture, Anti-Semitism, and the Holocaust. This collection of essays vividly recounts and interprets the long history and varied culture of Jews in Italy, from earliest times through World war II and the Holocaust.

Examines fascist policy and the fate of Italian Jews during the Holocaust, based on survivors' accounts and documents. Gives a detailed account of effects of the 1938 racial laws which were initiated by Mussolini in order to please Germany. During the war, refugees were interned and antisemitism increased. The Italian army protected Jewish refugees in areas under their control. With the German occupation in 1943, the Jews of Rome and other towns were deported. Asserts that Pope Pius XII had advance knowledge of the Rome roundup and failed to protest. 85% of Italy's Jews survived with the help of Italians. Those who died were betrayed and arrested by Italians or murdered by fanatical fascists. Several factors influenced the high survival rate: the Holocaust began late, the Jews had few identifying characteristics and had close contacts with non-Jews, lack of an antisemitic tradition, and Italian contempt for the authorities and their propaganda.

How did Italy treat Jews during World War II? Historians have shown beyond doubt that many Italians were complicit in the Holocaust, yet Italy is still known as the Axis state that helped Jews. Shira Klein uncovers how Italian Jews, though victims of Italian persecution, promoted the view that Fascist Italy was categorically good to them. She shows how the Jews' experience in the decades before World War II - during which they became fervent Italian patriots while maintaining their distinctive Jewish culture - led them later to bolster the myth of Italy's wartime innocence in the Fascist racial campaign. Italy's Jews experienced a century of dramatic changes, from emancipation in 1848, to the 1938 Racial Laws, wartime refuge in America and Palestine, and the rehabilitation of Holocaust survivors. This cultural and social history draws on a wealth of unexplored sources, including original interviews and unpublished memoirs.

An extremely detailed account and history of the Italian Jews during Italy's 23-year history of fascism and involvement in World War II. There is simply no other book like this.

IMAGINE ELIZABETH BETTINA’S SURPRISE when she discovered that her grandmother’s village had a secret: over a half century ago, many of Campagna’s residents defied the Nazis and risked their lives to shelter and save hundreds of Jews during the Holocaust. What followed her discovery became an adventure as she uncovered fascinating untold stories of Jews in Italy during World War II and the many Italians who risked everything to save them. “Finally, somebody made known the courage and the empathy of the majority of the Italian people toward us Jews at a time of great danger.” —Nino Asocoli