Persecution, indiference, and amnesia

Focuses on the social and economic consequences of the Italian racial laws on the Jews, both during and after World War II. In 1938-43 the fascist government issued ca. 180 decrees and circulars concerning racial persecution, and many more anti-Jewish laws were issued by the Italian Social Republic (RSI) in their part of Italy in 1943-45. These measures led to a high rate of unemployment among Jews, and deprived many of property and financial assets. It was only in January 1944, under Allied pressure, that the Provisional Government began to repeal the racial laws. The postwar government restored Jewish property and assets very slowly; in some cases property was not restored, e.g. if the new owner had acquired the property "in good faith". The return of Jews to their previous occupations was also impeded. Notes that 49% of legal proceedings of Jewish claimants were lost by them. Compares the restitution process in Italy to that in France, where the state quickly restored property to the Jews, in accordance with their socioeconomic rights. (From the Bibliography of the Vidal Sassoon International Center for the Study of Antisemitism - The Hebrew University of Jerusalem)