Why mussolini turned on the jews

Italians on the whole did not protest the laws until their lethal consequences became clear. By , the Fascists began confiscating Jewish property and rounding up Jews for deportation, and abruptly many of those who had not protested against anti-Jewish laws rushed to save Jews.

Although his collection of data sometimes interrupts his narrative, the book is a compelling read and a major contribution to a more sophisticated understanding of antisemitism in Fascist Italy.

Giorgina Levi was an Italian historian, member of Parliament and public intellectual. Next article A Woman from Rome. Also of interest. In this reviewer's opinion, Carpi could have strengthened his book by expanding the historiographical section and explicitly engaging the arguments of other historians of Italian Jewish policy and rescue, such as Meir Michaelis, Jonathan Steinberg, and the late Menachem Shelach.

Christopher R. Lorenz and Gabriele Weinberger. Detroit: Wayne State University Press, The book consists of 28 essays by cultural and literary historians as well as by journalists, all of whom are involved in GermanJewish studies. In addressing the issue of the outsider within literary discourse, the editors take a historical approach focusing on the Jewish community. Divided into six sections with an introduction and conclusion, the book begins with a broad sweep of the history of the Jewish influence during specified Project MUSE promotes the creation and dissemination of essential humanities and social science resources through collaboration with libraries, publishers, and scholars worldwide.

Forged from a partnership between a university press and a library, Project MUSE is a trusted part of the academic and scholarly community it serves. Italy was a long-time ally of Nazi Germany. Jews had lived in Italy for over two thousand years. The Italian Jewish community was one of the oldest in Europe. In , the Italian government under Benito Mussolini began to legislate and enforce antisemitic regulations.

In , German troops occupied central and northern Italy. German authorities rounded up Jews in major cities in northern Italy. Over the next seven years, the Fascists established and consolidated a one-party dictatorship. In two ways, Mussolini failed to establish an absolute dictatorship, however. The Monarchy remained independent of the Fascist Party and continued in theory to be commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces.

Moreover, while Mussolini was the recognized leader of the Fascist Party, his leadership remained nominally subject to the approval of a Fascist Grand Council. The Italian Jewish community, one of the oldest in Europe, numbered about 50, in By the s, Italian Jews were fully integrated into Italian culture and society.

There was relatively little overt antisemitism among Italians. Although there were fanatical antisemites among the Fascist leaders, such as Achille Stararce and Roberto Farinacci, Italian Fascism did not focus on antisemitism. Until , Jews could join the Fascist Party.

This legislation covered six areas:. Although reflected in harsh language on paper, Italian authorities did not always aggressively enforce the legislation, and sometimes interpreted provisions for making exceptions broadly. Even in the internment camps, Jews of foreign nationality lived under bearable conditions: families stayed together and the camps provided schools, cultural activities, and social events.

Nevertheless, for many individual members of a highly integrated Jewish minority which had had reasonably good relations with non-Jewish neighbors, colleagues, and business associates, the psychological insult and real economic disadvantages of discrimination eroded the quality of life, prompting thousands to emigrate, primarily to the Americas, between and Italy invaded France in June and occupied a small strip of land on the Franco-Italian border as part of the armistice agreement with Vichy France in June In the autumn of , Italy attacked Greece and invaded British-influenced Egypt from bases in Libya, which Italy had conquered from the Ottoman Turks in After Italy sustained disastrous defeats in both campaigns, however, the Germans deployed troops in the spring of , conquering Greece and Yugoslavia, and driving the British out of Libya.

Italy received the Adriatic coastlines and the corresponding hinterland of Yugoslavia and Greece as occupation zones in the spring of Despite its alliance with Germany, the Fascist regime responded equivocally to German demands first to concentrate and then to deport Jews residing in Italian occupation zones in Yugoslavia, Greece, and France to killing centers in the German-occupied Poland. Italian military authorities generally refused to participate in mass murder of Jews or to permit deportations from Italy or Italian-occupied territory; and the Fascist leadership was both unable and unwilling to force the issue.

Italian-occupied areas were therefore relatively safe for Jews. Between and , thousands of Jews escaped from German-occupied territory to the Italian-occupied zones of France, Greece, and Yugoslavia. The Italian authorities even evacuated some 4, Jewish refugees to the Italian mainland. Incarcerated in southern Italy, these Jewish refugees survived the war.