Passports of nearly all Italian Jews have been recalled by the Interior Ministry. The action was taken without previous notice following urgent summons to individual Jews holding passports to report to the Passport Control Office.
Only those contemplating emigration in the near future have been given back their passports. Some of these were compelled to sign statements that they would not return to Italy.
What will happen to the rest is not yet known. It is most probable that restrictions similar to those in Germany will be applied to them. The former freedom of travel abroad that Italian Jews have hitherto shared with their “Aryan” compatriots will definitely be curtailed, it was stated.
One-way passports to Jewish migrants will be the only ones issued, except in special cases where a temporary visit to a foreign country is considered absolutely necessary. Viewed with alarm by Italian Jews is the information that they may have to sign statements that they will not return to Italy. This step would brand them as refugees and place them in the same category as German Jews.
It is also held probable that, as in Germany, passports of Jews will be indicated with a special distinguishing mark. In Germany, Jews’ passports are marked with a large “J”.
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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.
