"While thousands of Jews were dying in German concentration camps during the Holocaust, thousands were surviving and thriving in Italian concentration camps."
This article discusses how Italy helped Jews during WWII and how concentration camps differed in Germany and Italy. It gives information on things that are not well known by society and that are not taught in schools.
In 1938, anti-semitic laws were passed in Italy but didn't affect much. During the WWII time span, Italy was the only country who allowed Jews in without visas when they were fleeing from Germany. In 1940, Italy became Germany's ally. However, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum reports that Italy "did not willingly cooperate in the Nazi plan to kill the Jews of Europe. Italians generally refused to participate in genocide, or to permit deportations from Italy. . . to the Nazi extermination camps. Italian military officers and officials usually protected Jews. . . Between 1941 and 1943, thousands of Jews escaped to Italy and Italian-occupied territory from German-occupied territory."
In 1943, Mussolini, Italy's dictator, was overthrown and Italy joined the Allies. During this time, Germany invaded Italy and deported Jews to German concentration camps. Close to 10,000 Jews were deported, and of those 7,000 died in either Auschwitz or other concentration camps. But because of Italy's efforts, over 40,000 Jews were saved and escaped the horrors that could have been their's in German concentration camps.
There were Italian concetration camps, but they were much different than ones in Germany. One woman, Eva Costabel, who interned at an Italian camp, says, "they gave the Jewish leaders the right to administer the daily life of the camp, which gave us a fair amount of autonomy in our daily lives." Here, Jews were allowed to wear their own clothes, play cards, visit with their neighbors, and lead virtually normal lives. Another survivor in an Italian concentration camp, Hans Heiman, reports that they were housed in a hotel that overlooked the sea, were allowed to go to the movies, and were given pocket money. Another big difference is that Jews were transferred to different camps within Italy to keep families together. Jews were even allowed to set up synagogues and practice their faith. Edith Birns, who survived Aushcwitz, said, "The Italians treated them like human beings." She also goes on to comment that her husband survived 6 years in an Italian concentration camp, but that no one could have survived that long in a German concentration camp.
"In the horrors of this era of history, the story of Italy helping its Jews stands out as remarkable. One country refused to follow Hitler's lead and the result was thousands of lives saved."
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