An Unexpected Betrayal? The Italian Jewish Community Facing Fascist Persecution

Abstract

In the memoirs of Jewish victims, Italian Fascism’s antisemitic turn has typically been described as an unexpected and sudden betrayal by Mussolini’s government, a ‘bolt from the blue’ that struck the well integrated Italian Jewish community without any forewarning. This study describes the plight of Italian Jews and the choices they faced during the first phase of the persecution (1938–43). Furthermore, by demonstrating that the antisemitic campaign was, in fact, the final and most radical step in an increasing racialisation of the regime’s stance over the 1930s, it tackles the question of whether, in earlier years, there had been subtle signs, or even dear warnings, that should have made the racial laws if not foreseeable, at least ideologically conceivable to the Italian Jewish community.