At the Italian Consulate this Saturday, May 27, at 5 PM, this period of modern history will be recalled with a lecture followed by a concert.
In attendance will be the Italian Consul General, Raffaele De Benedictis, and the President of the Jewish Consistory in Nice, Maurice Niddam.
The time of the righteous, the Italian period (Nov 42 – Sept 43)
Starting in 1940, a demarcation line divided France into two territories. The North was under German administration and the South, deemed a free zone, was entrusted to the Vichy government. “Anti-Jewish” laws were immediately enacted while Prefects forced Mayors to register Jewish populations, intern them, or place them under house arrest to form the first contingents destined for Auschwitz, as new laws sealed the spoliation of Jewish property.
The consequence of the North African landings resulted in a widespread occupation of France by the German army, with only a few scraps left to its Italian ally.
Upon their arrival, the Italians did not evoke the same fears as the Vichy people. Their occupation marked a period of respite in the “hunt for Jews” because it was military rather than fascist. Certainly, they wanted to assert their sovereignty, but they also wanted to distinguish themselves from Vichy and the Germans.
Alberto Calisse, the Italian Consul General, and his friend, the Italian Jewish banker Donati, protected the Jewish population while Vichy denounced this interference in its affairs. To the demands of Ribiere, the prefect of the Alpes-Maritimes, the Consul General opposed a categorical refusal. Despite an intervention from Von Ribbentrop to Mussolini, the Gestapo noted: “The Italian zone of influence, particularly the French Riviera, has become the promised land for the Jews.”
