From Sand and Ash

Amy Harmon explores a lesser-known part of Holocaust history, focusing on the lives of Jewish people in Italy, whose persecution was unique compared to other European Jewish communities. Italy has one of Europe’s oldest continuous Jewish communities, dating back to pre-Christian Roman times. In the early 16th century, Jewish life in Rome was diverse, with at least seven synagogues representing different communities. This diversity resulted from centuries of migration, expulsion, and resettlement along the Italian peninsula. In 1516, Venice established the first official ghetto, confining about 700 Jewish people to Ghetto Novo. Rome followed in 1555 when Pope Paul IV’s papal bull forced 2,000 Jewish people into a walled ghetto. Though restrictive, these ghettos preserved Jewish communities and culture for centuries, and were later targeted for destruction during the Holocaust.

During World War II, antisemitism was not initially part of Mussolini’s fascist platform. For nearly 16 years after the fascist rise to power in 1922, Jewish Italians had equal status in the fascist state. Jewish people could join the Fascist Party, serve in the military, hold government positions, and participate fully in Italian society. While Mussolini initially criticized Germany’s racist policies and supported Italy’s Jewish population, Italian fascism had racist foundations from its beginning.