Dear BV. ,

As Especially Educated man as you, I am astounded that you would give ANY Credence to the above referenced article in I-Italy. 

First, I've got to tell you, that while I have fought for the underdog all my life, I would NOT put my family's life at risk, for another family, particularly if they were Not a fellow Jew. !!!!!!!!! That Catholic Italians Risked their Families Life for Italian AND Non Italian Jews, and did so in such Enormous Quantities is STAGGERING to me !!!!!!!!!!!

Next, the article is written by Alessandro Cassin who is a cultural critic and weekly feature writer for L’Espresso, and a regular contributor to Il Diario, and Not an HISTORIAN, and most of his material is taken from discredited and well known Anti- Italians as Alexander Stille, and Susan Zuccotti. Cassin comes to the subject with NO background, yet has the audacity to malign the efforts of Elizabeth Bettina, who spent several years of study, and was granted unprecedented access to Vatican Files.

Cassin further attempts to undermine Bettina's efforts, since she is Not an Academic (and neither is he), as if only an academic is permitted to write a book , or be taken seriously.(Cassin does say that "Bettina proceeds in her investigation with the dogged determination of an oral historian, the resourcefulness of Indiana Jones and the enthusiasm of a neophyte.")

It is particularly amusing, since Classing is unaware that "The pioneer of Italian American Studies was Giovanni Schiavo. Though he was not part of the academic world his dedicated labor produced over thirty volumes of documentation on the subject." from a Report " The American Italian Historical Association at the Millennium" by Frank J. Cavaioli. http://www.aihaweb.org/AIHAhistory.htm

Giovanni Schiavo fell short of obtaining his PhD, only because he could not afford to publish his dissertation during the Depression,,but even more amusing is that Schiavo earned his living as a Reporter, the same despicable profession that Cassin dabbles in. :)

Coincidentally, Schiavo suffered a great deal of derision from Academics, for the longest time, since he wasn't of their "Elite" class,

"Giovanni Schiavo and Professor Rudolph Vecoli: Their Legacies: Pride vs Anti-Filiopietism". The ANNOTICO Report: May 14, 2005 http://www.italystl.com/ra/2137.htm

Cassin says " the consensus among serious scholars has repeatedly refuted the consolatory myth of Italian benevolence."

However , Cassin fails to mention these "Serious Scholars" by name, and the Degree of Consensus. There are a few"Opportunistic" and Biased writers that do "smear" Italy, but when other Authors recounted the outpouring of Jewish Appreciation immediately after the War, and other authors more recently have retold the stories, supplementing them with new Archival information, the "Haters" are fully discredited. 

Additionally, as an example of Cassin's galactic ignorance, that completely undermines his credibility, he states: " Historical research suggests clearly that the comparatively smaller numbers of deported Jews from Italy has more to do with the size of the Italian Jewish community (roughly 1 per 1000 inhabitants),"

Contrary to Cassin insinuations,there were almost the exact same Jewish Population in Italy prior to the War, as there was after, about 50,000. NOT A SINGLE ITALIAN JEW was Jailed, Imprisoned, or Deported in Italy.!!!!!!!! Italian Jews, Catholics, Protestants, Partisans, Communists, Anti- Fascists, etc were !! Yes!! BUT it had NOTHING to do with their Religion, it had to do with their Politics !!!!!!!!

Maybe it was also partially due to the fact that Jews held high positions in the Fascist movement, from the very beginning, including hundreds of Jews who were with Mussolini in the "March on Rome", which we both know was more like the "Railroad Train to Rome".

Cassin, goes on to state: "its high level of (Jewish) assimilation". WRONG! While Jews were fully accepted in Italy, they continued to maintain their special Identity, and plethora of Jewish organizations. !!!

Cassin also states INCREDIBLY INCORRECTLY : " and the fact that deportation began relatively late in the war, when the Nazis controlled only a portion of the country), than to any particular 'goodness' of the Italian population. "

On June 10,1940, Italy declared war on Britain and France. On December 11, 1941, the US declares war on Italy. In July 1943 The Allies invaded Sicily , and Italy surrendered in September 1943, the US entered Rome in July of 1944, the Germans left Florence in August 1944, to retire to Gothic Line. On May 2, 1945. Germans in northern Italy surrender.

Therefore the Germans were ENTIRELY in CONTROL of ALL of Italy, from Italy's surrender. Cassin's journalism is sloppy at best, and disinformation at it's worst.

Also, allow me to refer you to an article from the Israeli newspaper "Haaretz". Italian Jews and Holocaust survivors are rushing to aid "Aquila" communities that sheltered them during World War II, and were hit by last week's devastating earthquake.

Riccardo Pacifici, the head of Rome's Jewish community, said he was working to get recognition from Jerusalem's Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial for Italians and bestows a special honor on those who saved Jews during World War II.

Unbelievably, according to Haaretz, Yad Vashhem, with it's warehouses full of WWII documents plead ignorance to Italian Benevolence. http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1078259.html

Of course, few are not familiar with the "conversion" of The Chief Rabbi of Rome, Israel (Zolli) Zoller, (1881-1956), to Catholicism. Zoller did so because he was SO grateful for the "refuge" the Vatican extended to him, and the enormous "protection" the Catholic Church afforded Jews throughout Italy, during the Nazi occupation, but especially in Rome

As documented in Renzo Felice's "Jews in Fascist Italy" , pg 751, Felice lists 155 Catholic buildings in Rome alone, that "sheltered" Jews.

ADDITIONALLY, NOT a SINGLE REFUGEE (German, Austrian, Polish, etc...) JEW was Shipped back to Germany. EVEN after the Germany had significant Military troops in Italy, while the Italians were in Charge..

The Italians put as many Refugee Jews in "Displaced Persons" Camps (familiar in all countries after the war) such as in Campagna (Salerno), Ferramonti di Tarsia (Cosenza) etc. that Cassin properly describes as "safe havens" where the Italian guards kept the German SS at bay. In Ferramonti the Jews freely went to town, and the Italian towns people freely entered the Camp, in many cases to receive Medical Treatment from Jewish Doctors.

ONLY until AFTER Italy Surrendered, and Germans were in CONTROL of Italy, were about 8,000 REFUGEES (Citizens of Germany, Austria, Poland, etc) were Shipped by Rail back to Germany, where only about 2,000 survived.

Cassin uses the usual critic tactic, when the content can not be easily contoverted. he critcizes that the the view isn't more comprehensive, he wonders why Betting is able to get Jews to be so cooperative, that she really has a different agenda, demeans her perspective, and berates her for not including enough Negative Stories, and berates her for not explaining why the Italians did not "overthrow" their German masters, and be massacred in a futile attempt to prevent the deportation of Refugges,

Cassin implores us to apply 'common sense" rather than the Facts he deems not to his liking.

Cassin says nothing about the incredibly high losses of Italian Partisans in Fighting the Germans, nor does he mention the 20,000 Italian civilians Massacred by the Germans in the almost 1,000 "incidents". Cassin neither mentions the hundreds of thousands of Refugee Jews that were assisted in their flight out of Europe through Genoa and Trieste, although he is quick to excoriate Bettina for not mentioning Delasem (Delegazione di Assistenza agli Emigranti Ebrei) who could NOT have operated without the "Blind" AND "Complicit" Cooperation of Italian authorities, that engaged in "wholesale" forgery of documents, and "overlooking "missing" or obvious forged documents. .

To question the Benevolence of Italians toward Jews, and as Cassin states the Italian efforts to fail to save the 8,000 of Refugees was " morally offensive" is to be Uninformed or Disingenuous at the Best , and Evil at Worst. It actually shows an enormous amount of INGRATITUDE. 

Published on i-ITALY (http://www.i-italy.org)

Brava Gente? The Resurgence of the Shopworn Myth of Italian Benevolence During Fascism by Alessandro Cassin (July 29, 2009) Propaganda in Italy

Note: while Ms. Bettina was assembling her material, she and her collaborators video taped interviews with many of the survivors, which she plans to release as a full length documentary film.
The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum: http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/article.php?ModuleId=10005455
 

The ANNOTICO Reports Can be Viewed (With Archives) on:
[Formerly Italy at St Louis]