The Fascists and the Jews of Italy: Mussolini's Race Laws, 1938–1943 (Studies in Legal History)

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. Cover Half title Series Title Copyright Contents Preface 1 Introduction: On the Historical Significance of the Leggi Razziali 2 Legislation: Race, Religion, and the “Italian Model” of Antisemitism From a Racial to An (at Least Partially) Religious and Cultural Model: the Mixed Marriage and “Who is a Jew” Provisions Legislative Drafts: Hypotheticals, Tiebreakers, and the Absence of a Mixed-Race Category The Demorazza Correspondence: Of Mixed Marriages and “Innocent” Spouses The Mixed Marriage Rules and the “Italian Model” of Race Legislation Conflicting Goals and Creative Ambiguity: The Business and Property Rules The Drafting of the Business Provisions: General Themes Legislative Intent and the Trend Toward Expansion: The Rules on Jewish Professionals Discrimination, Persecution, and the Problem of Collateral Legal Provisions: The Matter of Pension and Indemnity Payments Indifference and Bureaucratic Turf: The Norme Di Attuazione Transfers of Property and the Evasion Problem Reprise on the Business and Property Provisions Transitioning to Racism: The Role of the Discriminazione Provisions Nuremberg, Jim Crow, and the Italian African Colonies: A Note on “External” Models for the Race Laws The Nuremberg Laws The Italian Colonies and Other Antiblack Statutes Religious Antisemitism and the Vatican Role Conclusion: On the Race Laws as a Distinct “Italian” Model for Racial Statutes 3 Administration: Expansion, Evasion, and the Problem of Institutional Conflict Borderline Issues: Creative Interpretation and the Trend Toward Stricter Enforcement Professions and Small Businesses: Ambiguous Cases and Interaction with Other Race Laws Provisions Legislative Intent and the Form and Substance Problem: Domestics, Hotels, and Supply Contracts Collateral Issues and Conflict of Laws: The Pension Benefits Problem The Evasion Problem and the Specter of Conflicting Economic Interests Mortgages, Leases, Exchanges: Collateral Issues in the Sale of Property The Società Anonima Question: Jurisdictional Conflict, Public Opinion, and Emergence of the “Fairness” Issue “Are We Losing The War On the Jews?”: Criticism of the Race Laws Bureaucracy and the Proposed 1940 Amendments Conclusion: Individuals, Institutions, and the Elusive but Persistent Question of National Differences 4 Adjudication: Theory, Practice, and the Role of Judicial Personality The Judicial Response: Strict Construction vs. Broader Legislative Purpose One Court, Two Approaches: Turin, 1938-9 The Ricci Memorandum: Prevention of Evasion and the Achieving the Intent of the Race Laws Rosso c. Artom: Derogation From General Principles and Need for “Strict Construction” Enforcement and Evasion Techniques: Turin and Beyond The Race Laws Meet the Labor Laws: The Pensione Decisions Conflict of Laws and the Special Role of the Church: The Judicial Application of the Mixed Marriage Provisions Borderline Cases and the Problem of Legislative Purpose Evaluating the Decisions: Ideas, Institutions, and the Elusive Role of Personality The Dynamics of Legal Decision Making: Who, Where, and Why The Magistratura and the Historic Role of Piedmont Natural Law, Positivism, and the Role of Legal Theory The Role of Personality: Peretti-Griva, Jemolo, Calamandrei 5 The Daily Plebiscite: How Local Officials and Ordinary Italians Responded to the Race Laws Background: Resistance, Collaboration, and the Value of Local Studies Ferrara: Local Factors, Extra-Legal Methods, and the Essential Continuity of the Race Laws Indifference, Pettiness, and Increasing Severity: The “Feel” of the Race Laws in Ferrara Propaganda, Intimidation, Violence: The Role of Extra-Legal Activities in the Anti-Jewish Persecutions Change and Continuity: Anti-Jewish Measures before and after September 1943 On the Significance of Local Differences: Ferrara, Turin, and Other Italian Cities Local Differences and National Trends: Identifying an “Italian” Response to the Race Laws The Construction of Popular Attitudes A National Perspective on Popular Attitudes: The Segreteria Letters Conclusion: History, Memory, and the Limits of the Resistance/Collaboration Dichotomy 6 From Perpetrators to Victims: The Question of Jewish Responses Resistance, Collaboration, Amidah: A Primer on Jewish Behavior During the Holocaust Special Features of the Italian Jewish Situation From Theory to Practice: Types and Strategies of Italian Jewish Resistance Nonviolent Resistance/Amidah: Schools, Charities, and Emigration Lawyers, Litigation, and the Liberal Professions The Role of the National Jewish Organizations Toward Armed Conflict: Jews in the Anti-Fascist Movements and Post-1943 Resistance Individual Jews and the Race Laws: More on the Segreteria Files The Italian Example and the Mythology of Jewish (and Italian) Resistance 7 Conclusion: Implications of the Race Laws for Italy, the Legal Profession, and the Study of Racial Statutes The “Good Italian” Myth: the Race Laws and the Question of Italian Exceptionalism Law, lawyers, and the Race Laws Restitution and Reparation: The myth of Universal Suffering and the (Inevitable?) Limits of Corrective Action Core, Periphery, and the Tendency to Increased Severity: Toward a Comprehensive theory of Racial Statutes Resistance, Collaboration, and the Prevention of Future Holocausts Bibliography Index "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 enforced and administered with a high degree of severity and resulted in serious, and in some cases permanent, 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 and assimilated by the Italian legal order and ordinary citizens. Although frequently depressing, the history of the Race Laws also involves numerous examples of personal courage and idealism, and provides a useful and timely study of what happens when otherwise decent people are confronted with an evil and unjust legal order"-- Provided by publisher "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 enforced and administered with a high degree of severity and resulted in serious, and in some cases permanent, 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 and assimilated by the Italian legal order and ordinary citizens. Although frequently depressing, the history of the Race Laws also involves numerous examples of personal courage and idealism, and provides a useful and timely study of what happens when otherwise decent people are confronted with an evil and unjust legal order"-- Résumé de l'éditeur