Anti-Jewish Policy of the Solal Republic in Yad Vashem Studies, Volume XVII

The Anti-Jewish Policy of the Italian Social Republic 1943-1945

Picciotto examines the involvement of the Italian puppet state, set up in September 1943 after the German occupation, in the persecution of Italian Jewry, then numbering some 44,000. In mid-October a special unit sent by Eichmann began to round up and deport Jews. In November Jews were declared enemy nationals and the interior minister ordered their arrest and internment in provincial concentration camps, especially at Fossoli, and the confiscation of their property. Also discussed are legislative measures and the activities of the General Inspectorate for Race set up in April 1944 to coordinate anti-Jewish policy under the leadership of the veteran antisemite, Giovanni Preziosi. The Germans continued to arrest Jews and took over Fossoli in February 1944. Relations between the RSI and the occupying German forces are described. In conclusion, it seems that antisemitism was a voluntary adaptation motivated by the tactics of foreign policy rather than a surrender to German demands.