© 1993 by United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
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The Testimony of Dr. Edo Neufeld: The Italians and the Jews of Croatia
Jerusalem, Israel
The Italian army has been lauded in Holocaust historiography for its benevolent policy towards Jews during the Holocaust. This is especially true regarding the Italian occupation zones in Yugoslavia, where the benevolence reputedly applied to threatened Serbs as well. Edo Neufeld's testimony, together with other sources, calls this praise for the Italians into question. Whereas there is no doubt that the Italian soldiers protected many Jews from the Croatian fascist Ustaia's murderous designs, the cases where Italians behaved with indifference raise doubts regarding the existence of a rescue policy.