From 1938 until 1943 - before the German occupation and accompanying Holocaust - Fascist Italy drafted and enforced a comprehensive set of anti-Semitic laws. Notwithstanding later rationalizations, the laws were administered with a high degree of severity and resulted in serious damage to the Italian Jewish community. Written from the perspective of an American legal scholar, this book constitutes the first truly comprehensive survey of the Race Laws in the English language. Based on an exhaustive review of Italian legal, administrative and judicial sources, together with archives of the Italian Jewish community, Professor Michael A. Livingston demonstrates the zeal but also the occasional ambivalence and contradictions with which the Race Laws were applied by the Italian legal order and ordinary citizens. Although frequently depressing, the history of the Race Laws contains numerous examples of personal courage and idealism, providing a useful and timely study of what happens when otherwise decent people are confronted with an evil and unjust legal order.
Author(s): Michael A. Livingston
Series: Studies in Legal History
Edition: 1
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Year: 2014
Language: English
Pages: 274
Cover
Half title
Series
Title
Copyright
Contents
Preface
1 Introduction: On the Historical Significance of the Leggi Razziali
2 Legislation: Race, Religion, and the “Italian Model” of Antisemitism
From a Racial to An (at Least Partially) Religious and Cultural Model: the Mixed Marriage and “Who is a Jew” Provisions
Legislative Drafts: Hypotheticals, Tiebreakers, and the Absence of a Mixed-Race Category
The Demorazza Correspondence: Of Mixed Marriages and “Innocent” Spouses
The Mixed Marriage Rules and the “Italian Model” of Race Legislation
Conflicting Goals and Creative Ambiguity: The Business and Property Rules
The Drafting of the Business Provisions: General Themes
Legislative Intent and the Trend Toward Expansion: The Rules on Jewish Professionals
Discrimination, Persecution, and the Problem of Collateral Legal Provisions: The Matter of Pension and Indemnity Payments
Indifference and Bureaucratic Turf: The Norme Di Attuazione
Transfers of Property and the Evasion Problem
Reprise on the Business and Property Provisions
Transitioning to Racism: The Role of the Discriminazione Provisions
Nuremberg, Jim Crow, and the Italian African Colonies: A Note on “External” Models for the Race Laws
The Nuremberg Laws
The Italian Colonies and Other Antiblack Statutes
Religious Antisemitism and the Vatican Role
Conclusion: On the Race Laws as a Distinct “Italian” Model for Racial Statutes
3 Administration: Expansion, Evasion, and the Problem of Institutional Conflict
Borderline Issues: Creative Interpretation and the Trend Toward Stricter Enforcement
Professions and Small Businesses: Ambiguous Cases and Interaction with Other Race Laws Provisions
Legislative Intent and the Form and Substance Problem: Domestics, Hotels, and Supply Contracts
Collateral Issues and Conflict of Laws: The Pension Benefits Problem
The Evasion Problem and the Specter of Conflicting Economic Interests
Mortgages, Leases, Exchanges: Collateral Issues in the Sale of Property
The Società Anonima Question: Jurisdictional Conflict, Public Opinion, and Emergence of the “Fairness” Issue
“Are We Losing The War On the Jews?”: Criticism of the Race Laws Bureaucracy and the Proposed 1940 Amendments
Conclusion: Individuals, Institutions, and the Elusive but Persistent Question of National Differences
4 Adjudication: Theory, Practice, and the Role of Judicial Personality
The Judicial Response: Strict Construction vs. Broader Legislative Purpose
One Court, Two Approaches: Turin, 1938-9
The Ricci Memorandum: Prevention of Evasion and the Achieving the Intent of the Race Laws
Rosso c. Artom: Derogation From General Principles and Need for “Strict Construction”
Enforcement and Evasion Techniques: Turin and Beyond
The Race Laws Meet the Labor Laws: The Pensione Decisions
Conflict of Laws and the Special Role of the Church: The Judicial Application of the Mixed Marriage Provisions
Borderline Cases and the Problem of Legislative Purpose
Evaluating the Decisions: Ideas, Institutions, and the Elusive Role of Personality
The Dynamics of Legal Decision Making: Who, Where, and Why
The Magistratura and the Historic Role of Piedmont
Natural Law, Positivism, and the Role of Legal Theory
The Role of Personality: Peretti-Griva, Jemolo, Calamandrei
5 The Daily Plebiscite: How Local Officials and Ordinary Italians Responded to the Race Laws
Background: Resistance, Collaboration, and the Value of Local Studies
Ferrara: Local Factors, Extra-Legal Methods, and the Essential Continuity of the Race Laws
Indifference, Pettiness, and Increasing Severity: The “Feel” of the Race Laws in Ferrara
Propaganda, Intimidation, Violence: The Role of Extra-Legal Activities in the Anti-Jewish Persecutions
Change and Continuity: Anti-Jewish Measures before and after September 1943
On the Significance of Local Differences: Ferrara, Turin, and Other Italian Cities
Local Differences and National Trends: Identifying an “Italian” Response to the Race Laws
The Construction of Popular Attitudes
A National Perspective on Popular Attitudes: The Segreteria Letters
Conclusion: History, Memory, and the Limits of the Resistance/Collaboration Dichotomy
6 From Perpetrators to Victims: The Question of Jewish Responses
Resistance, Collaboration, Amidah: A Primer on Jewish Behavior During the Holocaust
Special Features of the Italian Jewish Situation
From Theory to Practice: Types and Strategies of Italian Jewish Resistance
Nonviolent Resistance/Amidah: Schools, Charities, and Emigration
Lawyers, Litigation, and the Liberal Professions
The Role of the National Jewish Organizations
Toward Armed Conflict: Jews in the Anti-Fascist Movements and Post-1943 Resistance
Individual Jews and the Race Laws: More on the Segreteria Files
The Italian Example and the Mythology of Jewish (and Italian) Resistance
7 Conclusion: Implications of the Race Laws for Italy, the Legal Profession, and the Study of Racial Statutes
The “Good Italian” Myth: the Race Laws and the Question of Italian Exceptionalism
Law, lawyers, and the Race Laws
Restitution and Reparation: The myth of Universal Suffering and the (Inevitable?) Limits of Corrective Action
Core, Periphery, and the Tendency to Increased Severity: Toward a Comprehensive theory of Racial Statutes
Resistance, Collaboration, and the Prevention of Future Holocausts
Bibliography
Index
