From Fiume to Navelli: A Sixteen-Year-Old's Narrative of the Fleischmann Family and Other Free Internees in Fascist Italy, September 1943 June 1944

by Luigi Fleischmann, Daniella Zaidman-Mauer (Editor)

''It was guarded by military police...we moved out, armed only with some pistols and hand grenades...'' This diary documents a little-known aspect of the the plight of Jewish ''free internees'' in Italy during WWII. It describes in vivid detail the unique predicament of Jewish residents following the passage of the Nazi racial laws in Italy. The lucid descriptions are enhanced by outstanding drawings of the area and events of the time.

217 pages, Hardcover

First published July 16, 2007

Reviews

[David Doyle · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fascinating and very well-told story.

The book touches on a time and place during WWII, where little is known about. That is how the Jewish people in Italy before and during the Second World War, how they (the Jewish people) were treated and survived under Mussolini's Fascist Italy, then after the Italian capitulation, to the German Fascists.

A truly great read that delivers a highly detailed story of survival, of communities, coming together to protect the marginslised.

[Meaghan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really don't think this reconstructed "diary" (written just after the war) was put in sufficient context. A good introduction, listing the members of the Fleischmann family and how they came to be staying in the remote Italian village, would have gone a long way. As it was I wasn't really sure what was going on here, and it was very frustrating. The author and his family were Jews interned in the mountains in northern Italy and participating in partisan actions, and trying to conceal both their Jewishness and their partisan activities from the Nazis, with the connivance of the Italians. I couldn't determine anything beyond that. It's a pity, because I would like to know more about these "free internees."