It Happened in Italy

Author Elizabeth Bettina delivered an empassioned and informative talk on her book, It Happened in Italy here at the library on November 5th. The book tells the story of the humane treatment Jewish people received during WWII when held in Italian internment camps. This treatment was very unlike that received by those consigned to death camps in the rest of Europe. Italian authorities would ignore orders to turn Jews in to the Nazis. Jewish people were allowed to worship, wear normal clothing, eat regular meals, enter into marriage. Here is an excerpt from Elizabeth's blog http://elizabethbettina.com/ that tells of a story that began with a photograph (below).



"I am so excited that you wish to know more about this amazing untold story of the Holocaust – how Jews were saved in Italy. You are reading this because of one simple photograph I saw a few years ago while visiting my grandmother’s village tucked away in the Apennine Mountains about one hour south of Naples.
What in the world was a rabbi doing on the steps of the church my grandparents were married in? It was 1940. This church is  only a few hundred feet from my great-grandparents house — the same house I stayed in summer after summer as a child. Why had I not heard about this? I knew that “some” Jews were saved during World War II….but “some” did not include a rabbi and hundreds of Jewish men —in Campagna of all places!!"
Author, Elizabeth Bettina