Language:
Italian
Year of publication:
2010
Titel der Quelle:
Civiltà Cattolica
Angaben zur Quelle:
3834 (2010) 557-567
Keywords:
Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)
;
Jewish soldiers
;
Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) Catholic Church
Abstract:
Between May-August 1942, the Italian government decreed, in a series of provisions, the compulsory mobilization of the Jews for work purposes. They were to be employed only in manual work, after verification of their physical suitability, and kept separate from Aryans. The main purpose of these provisions was to appease the dissatisfaction of the Italian populace, which saw that the Jews, as a result of the racial laws, were, paradoxically, exempted from military service and would enjoy a situation of privilege, while the rest of the Italians were contributing to the war effort. The Vatican, in response to many letters of protest and requests received from diplomats, as well as from Italian or foreign Jews (most of them married to Christians), requested from the government that no identification badges should be imposed on the workers, that the non-Aryan Christians (among them also converted Jews) should be separated from the Jews, that the non-Aryan Christians should receive religious assistance, that the fathers of families (Jews and non-Jews), but especially in the case of mixed families, should be sent to work near their relatives, and that benevolence should be applied to special cases indicated by the Vatican. The provisions enacted in June 1943 regarding compulsory work added the stipulation that the Jews and other non-Aryans called to service would be placed in internment camps under the surveillance of the police, equating them with foreign Jews. Nevertheless, the effects of the provisions were very modest due to the inefficiency of the state bureaucracy and because of the chaotic situation which allowed many Jews to elude recruitment.
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