Av 24

In 1938, the Italian government passed a law banning Jews from teaching in public schools. A few months later, Italian leader Benito Mussolini formed an axis with Adolf Hitler. Discrimination continued against thousands of Italian Jews, and in 1943 many were deported to German camps. Fortunately, 80% of Jews in Italy were spared during the war, having been interned in small camps in Italy or rescued by righteous Gentiles. Recently, anti-Semitism has again flared in Italy; in 2003, Holocaust archives were destroyed at a school in Varese, and school walls were painted with graffiti such as "burn the Jews."