A People Under Terror

We print below an excerpt from Benevolence and Betrayal, an extremely rich portrayal of the fate of the Italian Jews during the Second World War. By showing the varying fates of several Italian Jewish families, Alexander Stille, a gifted young writer of Italian descent, has provided a valuable record of a tragic experience.

Mussolini’s regime was at first relatively tolerant toward the Jews, some of whom declared themselves “loyal citizens.” By 1938, however...