A number of Italian “fascists,” wearing authentic Mussolini type black shirts, were beaten up today by some Jewish youths in the Portico Dottavia, center of the Rome Jewish quarter. It turned out, however, that the men attacked were not fascists at all, but “extras” being used by an Italian film producer shooting a new picture, “Joy of Living,” intended to reproduce the racial persecutions that took place in this very section of the city under the fascist regime.
When Jews saw the black-shirted men strutting around the neighborhood, excitement spread through the quarter. Some Jewish youths did not wait to investigate–they simply started beating up the extras. The film shooting schedule was interrupted, and squads of police patrolled the area to make sure there were no further assaults against the “extras.”
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
