In the spring of 1944, in war-torn Rome, the Nazi persecution of Italian Jews reached its peak. Amidst this harrowing time, Dr. Giovanni Borromeo, the head physician at a hospital along the River Tiber, made a courageous decision to risk his life. He ingeniously disguised members of the local Jewish community as patients afflicted with an imaginary disease, concealing them in closed wards.
Under the guise of a highly contagious illness known only as 'Syndrome K,' the Germans were deceived, allowing the Jews to escape deportation to the Nazi death camps. This remarkable and little-known episode is just one example of the ingenious ways in which Italians fought a covert battle to resist the Holocaust.
Renowned historian Christian Jennings has, for the first time in English, delved into these historical accounts. Drawing from original archive materials in Italy, Germany, the Vatican, Switzerland, the UK, and the US, his latest book, recently published by Longanesi in Italian translation, narrates the complete story of the planning, execution, and resistance to the Final Solution in Italy.