33 of 33 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Heartwarming, not heartbreaking., May 13, 2009
This review is from: It Happened in Italy: Untold Stories of How the People of Italy Defied the Horrors of the Holocaust (Hardcover)
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This is not your typical book on the Holocaust - this one turned out to be heartwarming, rather than heartbreaking. It was not quite what I was expecting though. While it did relay the "untold stories of how the people of Italy defied the horrors of the holocaust" as the title states, the majority of the book actually dealt with the discovery of these stories and the subsequent trips back to Italy for the survivors, and the special friendships that were subsequently formed. There are actually only a handful of the untold stories, and most of them sound identical. The reason for that, however, is because of what even the survivors say - "nothing really happened to us there". Basically, the author discovers that there was an internment camp for Jews in Campagna, the small town that her family is from. After a series of sheer luck incidents, she discovers that these camps were all over Italy, and that the survivors of them were ready to talk about them. The interesting thing, is that barely anyone knows that these camps existed - including the current residents of these Italian towns. These camps were not death camps like Auschwitz, in fact, they were quite opposite. Technically yes, the Jews were in internment camps, but they were pretty much free to do as they pleased so long as they adhered to a few basic rules, such as obey curfew, and check in with the police everyday. Families were kept together, not torn apart. Weddings took place, children were born, they went to school, made friends with the locals, and were even allowed to be buried in a special section of the cemetery that had been requested by the Jews. In fact, they were even allowed to practice their religion. One synagogue was even set up inside an old convent attached to a Catholic church! This was even while Italy was allied with Germany! Once that alliance ended and Italy sided with the US and Britain, that's when they had to be careful - now the Germans were looking for them. This is when many Italians risked their lives to hide the Jews. When they heard the German troops were coming, they hid the Jews in the tiny villages in the mountains where no one could find them. Many of these villages weren't on any maps, and many only had 1 road in - no one knew they were there, so no one would be looking. I believe the book stated that as many as 30,000 Jews were saved because of the kindness of the Italian people. People even provided falsified documents so that some of them could hide in plain sight. The author was able to arrange for about 10-15 of these survivors and/or their families to go back to Italy to thank the people who saved their lives. During these trips they saw people they hadn't seen in 60 years, who still remembered them, showed their families were they lived, and even reminisced with one of the officers in charge of them! There were even several VIP visits to the vatican, and at one point even a special audience with the Pope! The survivors said that when they asked why the Italians would help them like this, they replied that it was "because the Jews were human beings just like us". How many Holocaust survivors can look back fondly on their internment? At least these people can. Many of them lost family in Auschwitz and they know that had they not been in Italy, they never would have survived. The author provides photographs taken during this time, and many varied documents as well. This book tells about how the Italian people provided a source of hope and goodness during one of Mankind's darkest hours. Definitely a different perspective from other Holocaust books. It is also written in a style more akin to sitting at a family reunion listening to the elder relatives tell stories of their youth. An interesting read and a story that should be told.
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Memory of Holocaust Survivors that Reads Like a Detective Story, May 8, 2009
This review is from: It Happened in Italy: Untold Stories of How the People of Italy Defied the Horrors of the Holocaust (Hardcover)
Before reading this book, I had only heard the dreadful tales of Holocaust survivors from the German camps. Thanks to Elizabeth Bettina we now know that the Italian camps were humane and comfortable. It was heart warming to hear stories of Italians helping Jews survive the dreadful atrocities committed during World War II. I couldn't stop reading.
A book of story after story about the heroic actions of the Italians in the hill towns could quickly become boring unless the reader had a personal interest. However, this book reads like a detective story. Starting with the discovery of a surprising picture showing Jews picnicking in an Italian concentration camp, we follow Elizabeth Bettina and Vince Marmorale on a surprising journey as they trace the survivors from the camp in Campagna, home of Elizabeth's relatives. As the tales unfold and intertwine, the reader is pulled into the story wondering what will happen next. How many more people will find they're tied to each other through the camps in the Italy?
The book is filled with photos and documents validating the story. These in themselves are precious. I felt amazement along with the author, as person after person produced pictures and official papers documenting their story. It's still hard to believe how different the treatment of Jews in Italy was from that of Jews in Germany. It was a pleasure to read this wonderful story.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Touching, May 7, 2009
This review is from: It Happened in Italy: Untold Stories of How the People of Italy Defied the Horrors of the Holocaust (Hardcover)
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This is an amazing story about holocaust survivors in Italy that was so rivetting I could not put it down. I'd never really thought about how Jews in Italy were treated and this book showed that they were treated completely differently than their Jewish counterparts elsewhere in Europe, and this was largely due to the people of Italy's determination and compassion. It was touching and made interesting reading.
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