My Italian Secret: The Forgotten Heroes is a documentary film which premiered in 2014.
It is about the Jews in Italy and what happened to them before and during World War Two, when they were persecuted by Mussolini (1938-1943) and by Hitler (1943-1945).
Here is some basic information about this film:
** Writer and director: Oren Jacoby
** Narrator: Isabella Rossellini
** Languages spoken: English and Italian
** Run time: 91 minutes
Benito Mussolini and the Fascist Party came to power in Italy in 1922.
Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party came to power in Germany in 1933.
After 1933, Hitler and Mussolini began to have contact with each other and to work together, because the Nazi ideology and the Fascist ideology were similar, although not identical.
Antisemitism was a major element in Nazism. Persecution of Jews began as soon as Hitler and the Nazi party came to power in 1933. This policy was accepted by many Germans, because antisemitism was nothing new; it had a long tradition in Germany.
Hitler urged Mussolini to introduce racial laws in Italy, just like he had done in Germany. At first, Mussolini refused. Antisemitism was not common in Italy. During the early years of Mussolini’s rule, Italian Jews were safe.
But Hitler kept urging Mussolini to introduce some racial laws, and in 1938 - sixteen years after the Fascist revolution - Mussolini did what Hitler wanted:
Racial laws were introduced in Italy.
Antisemitism became government policy in Italy. From one day to next, Italian Jews were no longer safe.
At first, the persecution was merely unpleasant. Jewish children were expelled from their schools, while Jewish adults who worked for the state were fired from their jobs.
But before long, the persecution became much more serious:
Jews were arrested. Just because they were Jews. Some were placed in camps in Italy, while others were handed over to the Germans who transported them to labour camps in Germany or death camps in Poland.
Many Italians did not support this policy. While they could not say so in public, because it was dangerous to speak out against the government, they could still say so and do something in secret.
And they did.
Many Italians decided to offer help and support to Italian Jews, even though they placed themselves in danger by doing so. In this film, we see some examples of how it happened; we see how it was done.
The Jews needed primarily two things:
# 1. They needed a place to hide for a while.
# 2. They needed false documents to avoid arrest, in case they were stopped an inspected by government officials.
In this film, we hear about Italians who risked their own lives in order to help and support Jews.
In this film, we meet some of the Jews who were saved and who survived the war, because they were given help and support by brave Italians who did not accept the official policy.
Example # 1
Gino Bartali (1914-2000) was known all over Italy, because he was a famous bicycle rider. Mussolini often praised Bartali, because he showed Italians as a master race; as a powerful people.
Bartali did not love Mussolini. He could not say so in public, but he could do something in secret.
And he did.
Bartali would ride his bicycle all over Italy. When he was stopped by the police, they always recognized him. When they asked him what he was doing, he explained that he was in training. He had to practice to be ready for the next race. He was always allowed to continue. He was never arrested.
The police officers did not know that Bartali was a secret member of the resistance. He was transporting false documents prepared for Jewish families. The false documents were hidden inside the metal tubes of his bike.
He would go to one location to pick up the false documents. Then he would go to another location where Jews were hiding, while they were waiting for false documents. He would hand over the documents which might save the lives of a Jewish family.
Gino Bartali (1914-2000), the bicycle rider who saved 800 Jews during World War Two
Example # 2
Catholic convents were often used as hiding places. Many Catholic nuns did not accept antisemitism. To them, persecution of Jews was wrong. It was against the Christian idea.
The nuns decided to help some Jews by giving them a place to hide for a while, even though they placed themselves in danger by doing this.
Example # 3
A doctor who was in charge of a hospital established a special ward where he placed Jews who were trying to hide from government officials.
When government officials came to inspect the hospital, the doctor told them that there was a special ward with some patients who had contagious diseases.
He told the officials they were welcome to enter the ward and inspect the patients, but they should know that it was very dangerous to be close to these patients. The officials were scared. They believed the doctor when he lied to them and thus the Jews in the ward were saved.
The doctor lied to the officials, even though this was dangerous. He could not accept the policy of his government. He felt it was wrong. He felt he had to do something to help people who were in danger. He used his position to do this.
Gino Bartali survived the war. For many years he never talked about what he had done during the war. He did not speak in public. He did not even tell his own family about it. But towards the end of his life, he changed his mind. He decided to reveal his secret.
He told his son (Andrea Bartali) what he did during the war. When asked why he had never talked about this before, he said he did not do this to become famous. He did it because it was the right thing to do.
The evidence presented in this film is anecdotal. It is not a comprehensive study of all available sources. Perhaps such a study would not work well in a film. Perhaps the director made a good choice when he decided to use anecdotal evidence. In my opinion, it works well.
Comprehensive studies have been made. They show that 80 percent of Italian Jews survived the war. Only 20 percent of Italian Jews lost their lives because of the racial laws and the war.
Most victims lost their lives because they were arrested and placed in camps in Italy or transported to labour camps in Germany and death camps in Poland.
In 1938, when the racial laws were introduced, the number of Italian Jews was ca. 50,000. The majority survived.
The anecdotal evidence presented in this film is only a small fraction of the available evidence, but it gives a fair impression of what happened to Italian Jews before and during World War Two (1938-1945).
What do reviewers say about this film?
On IMDb it has a rating of 74 percent, which corresponds to a rating of 3.7 stars on Amazon.
There are four user reviews on IMDb. Here are the headlines and the ratings offered:
80 – Stories of the righteous Italians
100 – Cycling fan or not, you’ll love this story
100 – Great movie
100 – Informative documentary about Jewish plight during WWII
As you can see, the ratings offered by these four reviews are much higher than the average rating on the website.
On Rotten Tomatoes there are two figures:
69 percent – the general public
80 percent – the professional critics
On Amazon there are at the moment 84 global ratings and 58 global reviews. The average rating is 4.6 stars, which corresponds to a rating of 92 percent.
I understand the numerous positive reviews and I agree with them.
I want to go all the way to the top with this product. I think it deserves a rating of five stars (100 percent).
REFERENCES
# 1. Books
** Jews in Italy under Fascist and Nazi Rule, 1922-1945 by Joshua D. Zimmermann (2005) (2009)
** The Jews in Mussolini’s Italy: From Equality to Persecution by Michele Sarfatti (2006)
** The Fascists and the Jews of Italy: Mussolini’s Race Laws, 1938-1943 by Michael A. Livingston (2014)
# 2. An article available online
Ruth Ben-Ghiat, “We are evidently Aryans! Why Italian fascists embraced Hitler’s antisemitism,” Slate, 20 January 2017
# 3. An Italian docudrama
Figli del Destino (2019)
[English title: Children of Destiny]
*****
My Italian Secret:
The Forgotten Heroes of the Holocaust
(2014)
*****
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