Jews Saved In Italy

Here in Canada, we're proud of our role in WWII. We rightly remember the exploits of what basically was still a colonial nation. However, we tend to ignore the fact that what good we did overseas was tempered by our refusal to take in Jewish refugees at home.

For Italy, it was the opposite. Often mocked for their disorganized and unprepared war effort, at the individual level there was extraordinary action. Just because its military didn't perform doesn't mean they lacked courage. It's just that, in a land where deference to authority is optional (thus leaving the country in an apparent permanent state of perpetual paralysis and dsyfunction), they simply didn't believe in Mussolini's cause and so acted accordingly.

The time honored practice of questioning authority and permanent suspicion of government did render remarkable results during World War II. This is what I thought about as I read a rather obscure but interesting article penned by a social worker who works at the Jewish General hospital here in Montreal about how Italians risked personal tragedy to save thousands and thousands of Jews. It truly is a remarkabel story.

Full article titled The Holocaust, Italy and the Jews: Heroism subverting hate by Sharon E. Freedman, P.S.W here.

"At a time of rising anti-Semitic incidents in Canada and the world, there are some people who feel that the topic of the Holocaust has been exhausted. But with school fire bombings in Montreal, attacks against Jews in France, the horrible deaths of innocents in Israel from suicide bombers and Iran’s President making no secret of his desire for the extinction of the Jews and of the State of Israel, the reality is that the world is once again witness to a new onslaught of anti-Semitism.

This is an important time to examine some history few know about, but once examined reminds us that individual heroism and resistance to hate is possible under what are seemingly the most untenable conditions. That story is the role of the Italians during the Shoah and how they saved some 85% of Italy’s Jews while under Nazi alliance and, after 1943, partial occupation.


Some theorists have suggested Italians saved the Jews because their overall numbers were small or that many Jews were assimilated. How then does one rationalize that thesis with the fact that the German Jews were the most highly assimilated group in a country with the most educated backgrounds yet had the highest rate of anti-Semitism? Most Germans lent support to the anti-Semitic legislation, initiatives and policies of their country.


Yes, 6000 Jews were murdered in Italy mostly by the occupying Germans and some fascist Italians; however, overall, many Jews owe their lives to the ordinary citizens, some clergy, and military personnel who risked their lives at great peril to themselves."

"Another fact that most Italians and Jews are unaware of is that despite the German-Italian alliance that lasted until Mussolini’s overthrow in 1943, the Nazis often found that local Italian Officials and the army were unreliable in turning over Jews. The police and town authorities who were supposed to round up Jews for deportations, often just didn’t do it despite orders."

Actually, more and more of us, and those who study history, know the Italian people were shocked that Mussolini did not side with Britain and France but with Germany and Japan. His interests simply didn't jive with the Italian mindset. And as the Germans showed themselves to be monstrous and barbaric deprived of any humanity, Italians reacted. Only when Mussolini was killed did the Italians, once free of the fascists, switch back.

It's a butt of jokes that Italy switched to the side that was winning, but in reality they itched to do that much earlier. It was with the death of il duce did they seize their chance.

In other words, as my Russian history professor once said, "The Germans were prepared to die for Hitler, the Italians would cheer for Mussolini but when asked to sacrifice their lives for him they refused...choosing instead to sip cappuccino arguing among locals." Dying for someone is an alien concept in Italy.

"In Italian occupied Greece and southern France, General Carlo Geloso refused to force Jews to wear the yellow star. The Nazis demanded deportations, the Italians refused. The stories of Italian heroism are nothing less than extraordinary and almost unique in the European experience of that horrible time. The Italians, like the Danes and Bulgarians, refused to be complicit executioners in the Nazi butchery. The Italians saved over 40,000 Jews from Annihilation in their occupied Zones alone."

"This past August Montreal’s Jewish General Hospital Foundation honored the Italian community by highlighting the story of war-time Italian diplomat Giorgio Perlasca, who risked his life to save over 5000 Jews in Hungary. He has been called the “Italian Wallenberg”. As an active member of the organizing committee, I had the humbling experience of speaking to several survivors who were pulled off death trains headed for Auschwitz at the very last moment by Perlasca. As a matter of fact the Foundation is presently in the process of raising funds for a permanent tribute, either a room or a floor-naming, in honor of Perlasca and all the other Righteous Italians."

"Marek [Marco] Herman formally from Lvov, Poland [now Ukraine] was 12 years old when the Nazis invaded his country. Day by day members of his large family were murdered. Italian Troops while on route to the Russian Front encamped in Lvov. The behaviors of these soldiers did not resemble the Germans. They were good hearted, gave food to the starved children outside their fence, and hosted a dozen orphans, Jewish and Christian in their barracks. Many soldiers gave their meals to the people lined up around their fence with outstretched hands."



In 1943, the Italians were recalled from Lvov to Italy and they took Marco and other orphans with them under the disbelieving eyes of the Nazis. Throughout the upheaval, some Italian soldiers adopted several Jewish orphans and the commander of the base gave them money for traveling and other expenses. These precious guardians were named Giovanni Ferro and Luigi Sebastiani."

"Even after the war as many borders including Canada’s remained tightly shut the Italians took in and cared for Jewish refugees. The book “The Selvino House”, which was a rich resort for Italian children, describes how it was turned into an orphanage for 1000 orphaned Jewish children waiting to go to Palestine."