Vittorio Valobra, prominent Italian Jewish leader and president of the central Jewish relief organization in Italy, was arrested by the Nazis during a round-up of thousands of Italian and refugee Jews by Gestapo units, according to reliable information reaching here today.
Vallobra was arrested when Gestapo agents raided the central offices of the “Jewish Philanthropic Organizations of Italy” in Genoa and seized all persons on the premises. M. Luzzati, secretary of the relief group, was also arrested and the organization’s records were confiscated.
Meanwhile, special Gestapo units are scouring Italy for native and refugee Jews, who, the Nazis charge, “engineered Italy’s capitulation.” Although Italians are sheltering large numbers of Jews, the Nazis succeeded in arresting several thousand whom they have imprisoned. It is feared that they will be deported to Poland, the reports say.
The fate of prominent Jews in other towns in Nazi-overrun territory is not known, but it is believed that they have also been taken into custody. Milan is the only large city from which no reports of arrests of Jews have been received, the information reaching here discloses. Jews from other sections of Italy and from the former Italian-held part of France are reported to be pouring into Milan. Among them are many Yugoslav Jews.
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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.
