The Holocaust in Italy

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The Holocaust in Italy was the persecution, deportation, and murder of Jews between 1943 and 1945 in the Italian Social Republic , the part of the Kingdom of Italy occupied by Nazi Germany after the Italian surrender on September 8, 1943, during World War II . The oppression of Italian Jews began in 1938 with the enactment of Racial Laws of segregation by the fascist regime of Benito Mussolini . Before the Italian surrender in 1943, however, Italy and the Italian occupation zones in Greece, France and Yugoslavia had been places of relative safety for local Jews and European Jewish refugees. This changed in September 1943, when German forces occupied the country, installed the puppet state of the Italian Social Republic and immediately began persecuting and deporting the Jews found there. Italy had a pre-war Jewish population of 40,000 but, through evacuation and refugees, this number increased during the war. Of the estimated 50,000 Jews living in Italy before September 1943, some 8,000 died during the Holocaust (mostly at Auschwitz ), while 40,000 survived. In this, the Italian police and Fascist militia played an integral role as the Germans' accessories. While most Italian concentration camps were police and transit camps, one camp, the Risiera di San Sabba in Trieste , was also an extermination camp. It is estimated that up to 5,000 political prisoners died there. More than 10,000 political prisoners and 40,000-50,000 captured Italian soldiers were interned and killed overall.

The Holocaust saw the persecution, deportation, and murder of Jews between 1943 and 1945 in the Italian Social Republic , the part of the Kingdom of Italy occupied by Nazi Germany after the Italian surrender on 8 September 1943, during World War II . One of the first actions that the Italian government took against Italian Jews began in 1938 with the enactment of the Racial Laws of segregation by the fascist regime of Benito Mussolini . These laws stripped away many basic human rights of the Italian Jewish citizens, with Jewish children not being allowed to go to school and Jews forbidden from marrying outside their cultural heritage . Before the Italian surrender in 1943, however, Italy and the Italian occupation zones in Greece , France and Yugoslavia had comparatively been places of relative safety for local Jews and European Jewish refugees. This changed in September 1943, when German forces occupied the country, installed the puppet state of the Italian Social Republic and immediately began persecuting and deporting the Jews found there. Of the population of 38,994 Italian Jews, 7,172 were arrested and became victims of the Holocaust . By the war's end, 31,822 Jews remained in the country, having managed to evade deportation while remaining in Italy. The Italian police and Fascist militia played an integral role as the Germans' accessories. While most Italian concentration camps were police and transit camps, one camp, the Risiera di San Sabba in Trieste , was also an extermination camp. It is estimated that up to 5,000 political prisoners were murdered there. More than 10,000 political prisoners and 40,000–50,000 captured Italian soldiers were interned and killed overall.