"The Defense of the Race" - An extremely anti-Semitic Italian magazine - August 1938

"The Defense of the Race" - An extremely anti-Semitic Italian magazine - August 1938

This issue of the antisemitic biweekly magazine La Difesa della Razza - 'Protection of the Race'. August 20, 1938 - extensive articles against Jews as a race, and the threat they pose to the stability and tranquility of the Italian nation - one of the most extreme anti-Semitic publications that appeared on the eve of the outbreak of World War II. At the top of the issue's cover is the anti-Semitic inscription: "Be human beings and not stupid sheep, so that the Jew among you does not laugh" - a quote that regularly appeared on the covers of all the magazine's issues.

The racist image presented on the cover of the magazine hints at its content - three figures - Greek - ancient Italian, Jew with a long nose and stereotypical features and Ethiopian, with a sword raised over the head of the Jew. On the first page of the issue there is an illustration in which one thousand Italians are seen, and to the left a Jew against the background of the map of Italy, and the anti-Semitic inscription: "Not one Jew out of every thousand Italians". The opening editorial states that the racial issue is relevant to the Italian people and that the Italian people are ready to accept the "racial conscience", and that it is ready to expel the Jews from within itself but this does not stop the Jew from continuing to influence and dominate from within. The goal of the issue is to remove the mask that Italian Jews wear on their faces and reveal their true face.

The central article deals with defining the Italian race versus the Semitic races, placing the Jewish race at the bottom of the ladder. The writer states that just as there is an Aryan race at the top of the ladder of races, there is an Italian race whose status is no less, and tries to connect the two races in a distant common past, in comparison to the inferior Semitic races. This article is accompanied by photographs of a Jew with a long nose and the caption: "A typical photograph of a Jew with features that clearly show his race", also shown are a Jew from Turkestan, and a picture of a Yemenite Jewish woman. And it is written: "The Jews represent in Italy the only Semitic element facing the Aryan population... They are characterized by the Semitic nose that cannot be mistaken, by the typical shape of the lower lip, almond-shaped eyes, dark hair and often curly or frizzy, by medium stature". And in contrast, Greek figures from Greek mythology are shown representing the ancestors of the Italians, highlighting their advantages.

Another article on Jews, entitled: "Ashkenazim and Sephardim, a disagreement that must not be ignored" deals with the different racial structure of the Sephardic Jews compared to the Ashkenazi Jews, and warns of the dangers of both sides. This article features a photograph of the Hafetz Chaim and his attendants (In the famous photograph in which Hafetz Chaim can be seen next to his son Rabbi Aharon, assisted by Rabbi Leib Broida, and his grandson Rabbi Yehoshua Levison, waiting for a meeting with the Prime Minister of Poland regarding interference in the education of the Jews in Israel) as an example of an Ashkenazi Jew. The writer tries to define the different physical characteristics between the Sephardic Jewish type versus the Ashkenazi Jewish type: "The Sephardim are usually dolichomorphous, with a convex nose, lively gaze, swollen eyelids... curly hair, short chest circumference...", and enumerates the characteristics of the Ashkenazim. The writer argues that the different qualities between Ashkenazi and Sephardic Jews must be recognized because according to these qualities one can predict the misuse they exploit of the Italian population. In this article he even tries to envision what might happen if Jews mix with the Chinese population in terms of race and also warns against this mixture. "The only country in the world where Jews would blend perfectly with the local population would be China."

Another article formulated in a scientific style deals with racial characteristics of hair. The author claims that both the structure of the hair and the hair roots appear differently in the "superior" races compared to the "inferior", and the skull length also differs among the European peoples compared to the Semitic peoples. The article is accompanied by illustrations that supposedly demonstrate the differences between hair types. In the issue, there is also an attempt to explain how the principle of heredity works using animals as an example - the grandchildren tend to revert to the traits of their grandparents and not necessarily their parents, and therefore one must always check back generations. The writer explains the connection between skull structure and intelligence, and the connection between higher fertility and average achievements in studies, the superiority of Italians born in Italy, the inferiority of the North African peoples and more.

La Difesa della Razza [The Defense of the Race] an Italian biweekly published between August 1938 and June 20, 1943 by Telesio Interlandi, published by Tumminelli in Rome (5 years in which a total of 117 issues were published), at the initiative of Benito Mussolini who believed in the written word to assimilate anti-Semitic and racist ideas among the Italian population. Those issues were the main anti-Semitic tool of the fascist regime, designed to promote the fascist racial laws in Italy. His goal was to spread a "scientific" doctrine of race theory, and to convince the Italians that colonialism, the prohibition of mixed marriages, and race laws are political goals that are anchored in the laws of nature. The magazine presented baseless ideas supporting the superiority of the Aryan race to which it claimed the Italians should have belonged, and warned of the "biological pollution" that might occur if the Italians mixed with the "inferior races". In the "scientific" sections of the magazine, racism and anti-Semitism were legitimized from a medical and biological point of view, focusing on presenting false "genetic" teachings. The magazine even deals a lot with demography in an attempt to present statistical projections showing the "non-Aryan" races in constant decline compared to the Aryan races. As Italy became more deeply involved in the war alongside the Axis powers, the propaganda against Jews intensified, accusing them of being responsible for the war and warning of the "dangers" of mixing with Jews, which could lead to "social contamination".

 

47 p., 30 cm. Complete issue. Overall good condition