The Fascists and the Jews of Italy
Mussolini's Race Laws, 1938–1943

Describes the history and nature of the Italian Race Laws during the period (1938–43) when Italy was independent of German control.

Michael A. Livingston (Author)

9781107027565, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 21 April 2014

274 pages, 8 b/w illus.
23.5 x 15.7 x 2 cm, 0.53 kg

'Prof Livingston's research is admirably detailed and offers a rare perspective on an underaddressed aspect of the road to the Holocaust, countering many myths about its Fascist Italian incarnation.' StrategyPage (www.strategypage.com)

From 1938 until 1943 - before the German occupation and accompanying Holocaust - Fascist Italy drafted and enforced a comprehensive set of anti-Semitic laws. Notwithstanding later rationalizations, the laws were administered with a high degree of severity and resulted in serious damage to the Italian Jewish community. Written from the perspective of an American legal scholar, this book constitutes the first truly comprehensive survey of the Race Laws in the English language. Based on an exhaustive review of Italian legal, administrative and judicial sources, together with archives of the Italian Jewish community, Professor Michael A. Livingston demonstrates the zeal but also the occasional ambivalence and contradictions with which the Race Laws were applied by the Italian legal order and ordinary citizens. Although frequently depressing, the history of the Race Laws contains numerous examples of personal courage and idealism, providing a useful and timely study of what happens when otherwise decent people are confronted with an evil and unjust legal order.

1. Introduction: on the historical significance of the Leggi Razziali
2. Legislation: race, religion, and the 'Italian Model' of anti-Semitism
3. Administration: expansion, evasion, and the problem of institutional conflict
4. Adjudication: theory, practice, and the role of judicial personality
5. The daily plebiscite: how local officials and ordinary Italians responded to the race laws
6. From perpetrators to victims: the question of Jewish responses
7. Conclusion: implications of the study for Italy, the legal profession, and the study of racial statutes.

Subject Areas: Fascism & Nazism [JPFQ], 20th century history: c 1900 to c 2000 [HBLW], European history [HBJD]