Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Book Review: "It Happened In Italy" by Elizabeth Bettina

Cover Shot of It Happened in Italy by Elizabeth Bettina
Was Fascist Italy a safe haven for Jews during World War II? It turns out the answer to this question is "yes." Although not widely known, thousands of Jews survived the holocaust because of the Italian people.

Elizabeth Bettina was a lady who spent many of her childhood summers in the small town of Campagna located in South-eastern Italy. Her ancestral home, Campagna held a secret she only learned of as an adult back at home in the United States: During World War II an internment camp housing Jews was located a stone's throw from her great-grandmother's home.

She learned of the history of the Jews in Campagna though a series of fascinating coincidences which led her on a quest to learn the stories of those Jews who were spared the horror of the Holocaust because of many Italians, both ordinary people as well as government officials.

This book is the history of her quest for the true story of Jews in Italy. Interwoven within her story are the stories of those who survived this terrible time in history because of the graciousness and compassion of the Italians they came in contact with.

The book is written in a conversational style and contains many pictures and copies of documentation which makes it handy for the real history buff.

Disclaimer: I am a member of Thomas Nelson's Book Review Blogger program. Although Thomas Nelson Publishing provided the book at no cost to me, this review is my honest opinion of the work.

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