Publisher Description

The author demonstrates that the Italian Army deserves attention for its often humanitarian treatment of Italian Jews and other Jews. He also analyzes revisionist histories of Pope Pius XII and his alleged "silence," arguing that revisionists were writing for a popular audience interested in sensation and scandal, and that this profitable trail attracted journalists and historians alike. Focusing primarily on the roles played by the Vatican and the Royal Italian Army, this book also provides an overview of the travail of Italy's Jewish community from the beginning of Mussolini's anti-Semitic policies in the late 1930s, through the end of the German occupation in May 1945.

My aim was to explain in detail the facts surrounding Fascist anti-Semitism and the persecution of the Jews in Mussolini's Italy. Too many people in Italy and elsewhere underestimate or deny the tragic fate of European Jewry and anti-Semitism between the two world wars. A few short years ago anti-Semitism appeared defeated and reduced to a tiny group of fanatics. But now it seems to be regaining ground in its more political incarnation, probably the most dangerous one, because next to the religious, social and economic varieties it is the most insidious of all. The author occupies a central position among Italian historians specialized in modern Italy's political history. He broke new ground by first publishing this book in 1961 having obtained special permission to consult the files in the Archives of the Italian Jewish Communities concerning the Fascist regime's persecution of the Jews in Italy from 1938 to 1945. The book's release coincided with the trial of Adolf Eichmann in Jerusalem that brought the Holocaust to the attention of other historians and to the world public. The English translation of the final 1993 edition was supported by a grant from the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. This paperback and electronic book edition is published in association with the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.

Describes the history and nature of the Italian Race Laws during the period (1938-43) when Italy was independent of German control.

Provides a comprehensive history from the rise of fascism in 1922 to its defeat in 1945. The author uses statistical evidence to document how the Italian social climate changed from relatively just to irredeemably prejudicial. He demonstrates that Rome did not simply follow the lead of Berlin.

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.