After Mussolini Jewish Life and Jewish Memories in Post-Fascist Italy

by Schwarz, Guri

• ISBN13: 9781912676903
• ISBN10: 1912676907
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2021-11-11
• Publisher: Vallentine Mitchell

Summary

After Mussolini explores the genesis of the 'myth of the good Italian.' This myth was deliberately promoted by the Italian Foreign Ministry, which aimed to obtain a non-punitive peace treaty by distancing the nation from German guilt. Through in-depth research, the book illustrates how Italian Jews, in their efforts to reintegrate in the country after the Second World War, contributed to shaping and legitimizing a representation of Fascist persecutions which drastically downplayed Italian responsibilities in the Holocaust. In addition, the book focuses on community reconstruction and social reintegration, and it is the first comprehensive history of post-war Italian Jewry between 1945 and 1961.
 

Author Biography

Guri Schwarz obtained a PhD summa cum laude in Historical Disciplines at the Scuola Normale Superiore of Pisa in 2002. At present he is Lecturer in Jewish History at the Faculty of Humanities of the University of Pisa.

Table of Contents

CONTENTS

Preface to the English Edition
Acknowledgements
List of Abbreviations

PART 1: THE REORGANIZATION OF JEWISH LIFE
1. Echoes of the Catastrophe
2. A ‘New’ Leadership
3. A Zionist Awakening
4. Youth Movements
5. Italian Citizenship and Jewish Identities

PART 2: PATHS OF MEMORY
6. Memory Lapses
7. Public Uses of the Recent Past
8. Memory Politics during the Cold War
9. The Union of Italian-Jewish Communities and the Historiography on Fascist Anti-Semitism
10. For a Critique of Italian-Jewish Self-Representation

Conclusion
Bibliography
Index