HS 330 - Never Give In! Fascism, Anti-Semitism, and Resistance in Italy, 1922-1948

This class introduces students to two topics: 1) the general history of Italy in the first half of the Twentieth century and specifically the Fascist era, culminating in the disastrous participation to the Second world war, the political and military defeat and the German occupation of Italy; 2) the topic of the Righteous among the Nations, in which some Italian people played a significant role, while protecting Jews from deportations and genocide by the Nazis and contributing to the birth of a new national identity, based on moral commitment and praise for democratic institutions as the ones shaped by the Republican Constitution of 1948. The city of Milan played in this set of historical events a very significant role, hosting both the birth of Fascism (in part linked with Futurism as an intellectual movement) and, later, numerous act of resistance during the Nazi military occupation of Italy and the Italian Social Republic (1943-45). 

The first part of the course will be based on Martin Blinkhorn’s guide to Mussolini and Fascist Italy and on a classical work by Federico Chabod (A History of Italian Fascism, 1950), whose liberal interpretation of modern Italian history was very influential after World War II and shaped conventional political narratives about Fascism in Italy and the rise of the Resistance. At the same time, Chabod’s traditional view will be challenged by recent historical approaches that shed light on controversial topics excluded from his narrative (i.e., the Resistance as a ‘civil war’). Key issues will be the line of events that enabled Mussolini to take power, the Fascist ideology (whose core was nationalism) as well as the roots of anti-Semitism in Europe and more specifically in the Italian context. Specific attention will be dedicated to Futurism, which played a non-secondary role in shaping Fascism. 

In the second part of the course major emphasis will be placed on the persecution and rescue of the Jews. In this regard, Italy represents a unique case with respect to the rest of Europe: about 65% of Jews in Italy survived the war. To understand this fact, it is necessary to explore the category of ‘moral resistance’ and situate it in relation to the traditional categories of ‘political’ and ‘military resistance.’ 

The course-related trips are fundamental to the course, which visits the Museo del Novecento (a worldwide recognized exhibit of Futurist’s works) and the Shoah Memorial of Milan. Interested students will have, asking the instructor, the possibility to visit the CDEC (Jewish Contemporary Documentation Center – link) and its library to deepen topics related to the course. The course will be taught in a ‘seminar’ style.