Did you know that some Jews supported Mussolini before the Holocaust? Italian Jew Ettore Abenaim—pictured on the right—was a member of the Italian Blackshirts. This armed group attacked political opponents of Italian Fascist leader Benito Mussolini, such as Communist and Catholic organizations. Unlike Nazism, early Italian fascism was not overtly antisemitic. This photo was taken in 1936 in Pisa. By November 1938, Mussolini's government passed anti-Jewish race laws and excluded them from the National Fascist Party and other areas of Italian life. After the Nazis took over Italy in 1943, Ettore was deported to Auschwitz, where he died. In total, the Nazis deported over 8,000 Jews from Italian territory, mostly sending them to Auschwitz-Birkenau. Only about 1,000 returned after the Holocaust. Photo: USHMM, courtesy of Emmanuele Pacifici
Uncover the facts behind some of the most daring robberies, brazen scams and brutal murders ever committed.
