Jews from Axis-occupied Yugoslavia are slipping into Italy where the local population, contrary to the official anti-Semitic policy of the Mussolini regime and in demonstration against Nazi anti-Jewish propaganda, is displaying marked sympathy with the Jews, it was reported today by a neutral diplomat arriving here from Rome.
Declaring that “not less than several thousand Yugoslav Jews have crossed the border into Italy during the last year, escaping from Nazi brutalities,” the diplomat said that many of them reached Italy with the help of Italian soldiers who openly expressed their disapproval of the inhuman treatment of Jews in occupied Yugoslavia. Those of the Yugoslav Jews who were qualified artisans were permitted to work in Italy in shops, while those who could not prove that they were able to make a living by working in factories have been interned in camps.
“The majority of the people in Italy still can not comprehend Mussolini’s anti-Semitic policy. They consider it nothing but another concession of Mussolini to Hitler and express their disapproval of it whenever they have a chance to do so,” the diplomat stated.
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