Diplomatic circles in Rome expect Premier Mussolini to take action to check anti-Semitic bias, which threatens to become a part of the Fascist creed, British newspapers reported today.
In dispatches on the arrest of 214 Jews and flogging of three in Italian-ruled Tripoli for refusing to keep their shops open on Saturday, the Jewish Sabbath, newspapers said it was not entirely clear whether the sudden appearance of anti-Semitism was due to the Italo-German rapprochement.
Pointing out that anti-Semitism was an innovation in Italy and that the Jews had never been persecuted there, the reports said that the Vatican had always discouraged Jew-baiting, adding that until recently Il Duce himself honored the Jews with high positions.
“Possibly the close friendship between Goering (Reich Air Minister) and Balbo has something to do with the present anti-Jewish outbursts in Italian North Africa, where Balbo is governor,” one report stated.
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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.
