Published online by Cambridge University Press: 07 January 2016
About 2,000 Jews were deported from Rome during the nine months of German occupation, half of them after the infamous German razzia of 16 October 1943. Who took part in their identification and arrest? Italian historiography has most commonly focused on a few ardent Fascist collaborators, while the majority of Italians were proclaimed to be engaged in rescue operations for persecuted Jews. Due to the long-standing hegemony of the notion of ‘italiani brava gente’ and the taboo against discussing Italian collaboration, almost no studies of the Jewish persecution during the German occupation in Italy have been undertaken. The analysis of over 50 trials against Fascist collaborators offers insight into the caccia all'ebreo on the micro-level of occupied Rome. Elaborating on different forms of denunciations characterizing the persecution as well as the diverse motives of the Italian perpetrators, this article presents a comprehensive picture of the collaboration between German occupation forces and the population of Rome.