Customer Reviews

The Italians and the Holocaust: Persecution, Rescue, and Survival

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I recently saw Susan Zuccotti lecture at Seton Hall University and was very impressed by her scholarship, objectivity and above all, compassion. Being the daughter of an Italian Jew who suffered the humiliation of the racial laws during the late l930's, I was fascinated by the fact that only 15% of Italian Jews perished during the war. Professor Zuccotti presents this fact along with others still contending that while this was a relatively small percent compared with other countries in Europe, the pain and loss suffered must not be minimized. Similarly, she presents a very objective view of Pius XII involvement(or lack therof) in saving the Jews. While she states that there was no evidence of a clear directive from the Pope,she does acknowledge the behind-the-scenes efforts by so many in local churches, convents, monasteries and schools who sheltered Jews under very dangerous circumstances. Again, I have several friends and relatives of my father's generation in Italy and NYC who survived the war under these conditions. I am looking forward to reading her work.

Boy, this is one ww2 book you're gon'na love, having never read about Italy during the war, i was really amazed at those Italian people ,they are really something else. Can't say nothing good about the old pope X11, as he was gutless & a wimp,but the average priest & nuns took untold dangers to help the Jews[ God Bless The Wonderful Jewish Race ] & so did the common man & it seems, most soldiers. It seems the higher up the ladder people were[ not all ] the less inclined they were to help, but the poor risked life & limb against those nazi monsters.A book you can hardly put down, LOVED IT !

THIS SUPERB ACCOUNT OF ONE OF CIVILIZATION'S DARKEST HOURS WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN, IF THIS QUOTE FROM PAGE 217 WERE FOLLOWED BY OTHER PEOPLE THROUGHOUT THE WORLD AND HISTORY. "WHAT IS IMPORTANT IS THAT THEY VIEWED THE HOLOCAUST AS ABOVE AND BEYOND POLITICS, THEY UNDERSTOOD THEIR DUTY AS CHILDREN OF GOD, AS ITALIANS, AND AS HUMAN BEINGS, AND THEY HAD THE COURAGE OF THEIR CONVICTIONS." GREAT READING.

If you want to know a brief and condensed history of the situation of Jews in Italy during the nighmarish years of the WWII,this is the book to read.
I do not share the view of the writer who gives the reason (among others)for the survival of the majority of the Jews of Italy survived because they were "nonsubmissive" and " a tiny minority (who were massacreted) were terrified,unimaginative,passive..."
Millions of Jews perished under the nazis. Hardly I can say it was because they were unimaginative and passive,included those Jews and non Jews who died in the Ardeatine Caves (in Rome) who were dragged out from their homes or prision with to their deaths.