The Italian Jewish Migration to Eretz Israel and the Birth of ltalian Chalutz Movement (1938-1948)

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

This article analyzes the Italian Jewish ‘aliyah [migration] to Eretz Israel [the Land
of Israel] before the birth of the Israeli State in May 1948. This phenomenon only
concerned a tiny minority of the Italian Jews. Between 1938 and 1940, out of the
40,000 Italian Jews living in Italy, only around 400 decided to migrate to Mandatory
Palestine. At the end of the Second World War, Zionism became widely accepted,
and an increase occurred in the ‘aliyah between 1945 and 1948. Yet, such a choice
continued to be made only by a minority of Jews. The main reasons lay in the small
number of Italian Jews, their high level of integration and assimilation before and after
the Shoah, and the fact that Zionism was mainly interpreted as a philanthropic
movement or a way to support Israel, rather than as an ideology leading towards ‘aliyah.

목차 (Table of Contents)

• 1. Introduction 2
• 2. The Dimension of the Italian Migration: A “ miniature" ‘aliyah 5
• 3. The Italian ‘aliyah: The First Phase (October 1938-June 1940) 7
• 4. The Years of the Nazi Occupation (September 1943-April 1945) 11
• 5, The Second Phase (May 1945-May 1948) and
• the Birth of the Italian chalutz Movement 20
• 6. Conclusion 25