Italians helped Jews survive during Hitler’s “Genocide Vision”. Most of Europe was under Nazi control during 1938 and Italy was one of the countries that was partially on the Jewish side of the war. While Benito Mussolini was instituting harsh discrimination laws during the beginning of the war, Italian authorities refused to go with Nazi extermination plans. Italy was actually known for proactively protecting Jewish refugees and residents. Roughly about 80 percent of the 45,000 Jews survived the war because Italy did not abandon them. The United States Holocaust Museum said that Italians interned Jewish foreigners and made sure they lived in bearable conditions.
Holocaust survivors after 1944 being liberated from concentration camps
Fascism was the type of government that Mussolini supported. "an authoritarian and nationalistic right-wing system of government and social organization."
Mussolini & Hitler seen leaving Germany
I found this information very informative and useful because of the statistics provided. It showed how Italy's population was divided during the war and how it affected the chances of Jews getting persecuted. Most Italians were against the Nazi culture and helped thousands of Jews survive during the peak of 1938-1944. This opened my eyes to how not everyone sided with Hitler out of fear and there were still some people that had ethical morals.
“How Italians Protected Jews from The Holocaust" Chicago Tribune." October 10, 2014: 1-2. Print