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Italian Municipal Manifest for the Denunciation of Belonging to the Jewish Race

“The belonging to the Jewish race has to be denunciated and annotated in the registers of the civil State and in those of the population (...).”

Following this resolution, manifests, as this one, appeared in every single Municipality in Italy. The Podesta (the head of the local Fascist authority) invites all the people of the “Jewish race” - specifying who is considered so - to give a statement starting from December 4, 1938.

Denunciation of belonging to the Jewish race

notifies that accordingly to the article number 9, decree November 17, 1938 - XVIII, N. 1728, is about the legislative measures for the defense of the Italian race, the belonging to the Jewish race has to be denunciated and annotated in the registers of the civil State and in those of the population .

According to the law:

a. Belongs to the Jewish race : the one who is born from parents both of the Jewish race, even if he belongs to a religion other than Judaism.

b. It is considered of the Jewish race : the one who is born from parents of which only one is of Jewish race and the other is of foreign nationality.

c. It is considered of the Jewish race : the one who is born from a Jewish mother, whenever the father is unknown.

d. It is considered of the Jewish race : the one who, even if he is born from parents of Italian nationality, of which only one is of the Jewish race, belongs to the Jewish religion or is a member of a Jewish community, and had in any kind of way manifested his belonging to Judaism.

It is not considered of the Jewish race : the one who is born from parents of Italian nationality, of which only one is of the Jewish race, but that from October 1, 1938 - XVI - belongs to a religion other than Judaism.

Invites therefore

all the people of the Jewish race, residents of this municipality, to denounce it to the Office of the Civil State within ninety days from the coming into force of the decree that is within ninety days starting from December 4, 1938.

All those that will not fulfill this order within the prescribed time or will provide inexact or incomplete facts will be punished with a month under arrest or a fee up to three thousand lire.

December 20, 1938

The Podesta.

Source: “Provvedimenti per la difesa della razza italiana” ("Legislative measures for the defense of the Italian race") November 17, 1938 (G.U. n. 264, November 19, 1938), article number 9.


Source: Yad Vashem