Elizabeth Bettina’s book, It Happened In Italy (Thomas Nelson) tells the story of Jews living in Italy during the time of the Holocaust. After learning that her Italian grandparents helped to save Jews in the small village Campagna, Bettina decided to further investigate what happened in Italy during World War II. As it turns out, many of the Jews escaped to Italy (one of the only countries that would accepted their visas) and were hidden in small villages such as, Campagna, saving 75%-80% of the Italian Jews.
Through interviews with survivors, Bettina uses a casual conversational style that lures the reader into the lives of her subject. The first-person accounts add depth to the book as the real survivors and their protectors tell their own stories. The book is full of photographic evidence, such as marriage certificates and baptismal records that show not only that these people existed, but that they also lived.
To think, while many other countries cringed in fear of the Nazis, the Italians fought back and protected the Jews in their midst—and it all happened in Italy.
This review is part of the Thomas Nelson Book Review Bloggers Program.
She is Beloved 