Judith Roumani is founder and director of the Jewish Institute of Pitigliano.

Dr. Roumani is not only the director and founder of the Jewish Institute of Pitigliano, but she is also a member of a prominent Sephardic family. With her background, she brings to light with vivid expression the complex social condition of the region’s Jews through an examination of archival documents, published memoirs, and scholarly works from Italian sources not readily known to western researchers. So little is recognized of Italian Jewry that this segment, situated in the trauma of World War II, is worthy of wide attention.

• List of Illustrations AcknowledgmentsList of Sources List of PersonalitiesA Short Introduction Chapter One: Pitigliano and Other Cities of Refuge for Jews in Southern Tuscany over the CenturiesChapter Two: A Bolt from the Blue? Fascist Racial Laws of 1938 and their Effects in Southern TuscanyChapter Three: Town versus Country, Conformity versus Defiance: Contrasting Behaviors Involving JewsChapter Four: Hiding Like Animals, in Caves, Barns and Farms; and the Righteous Gentiles of Tuscany Who Risked their Lives Protecting JewsChapter Five: At the Mercy of the Church and the Fascists: The Obligingly Hospitable Bishop Galeazzi of Grosseto, and the Experience of Jews Who Turned Themselves InChapter Six: Foreign Jewish Refugees Who Fled to Tuscany: Early ExperiencesChapter Seven: Last Days at the Bishop’s Palace for Foreign and Italian JewsChapter Eight: Post War: The Search for a Return to Normal: For Jews, a Future of Virtual JudaismBibliographyAbout the Author

Judith Roumani is founder and director of the Jewish Institute of Pitigliano.

Dr. Roumani is not only the director and founder of the Jewish Institute of Pitigliano, but she is also a member of a prominent Sephardic family. With her background, she brings to light with vivid expression the complex social condition of the region’s Jews through an examination of archival documents, published memoirs, and scholarly works from Italian sources not readily known to western researchers. So little is recognized of Italian Jewry that this segment, situated in the trauma of World War II, is worthy of wide attention.

• List of Illustrations AcknowledgmentsList of Sources List of PersonalitiesA Short Introduction Chapter One: Pitigliano and Other Cities of Refuge for Jews in Southern Tuscany over the CenturiesChapter Two: A Bolt from the Blue? Fascist Racial Laws of 1938 and their Effects in Southern TuscanyChapter Three: Town versus Country, Conformity versus Defiance: Contrasting Behaviors Involving JewsChapter Four: Hiding Like Animals, in Caves, Barns and Farms; and the Righteous Gentiles of Tuscany Who Risked their Lives Protecting JewsChapter Five: At the Mercy of the Church and the Fascists: The Obligingly Hospitable Bishop Galeazzi of Grosseto, and the Experience of Jews Who Turned Themselves InChapter Six: Foreign Jewish Refugees Who Fled to Tuscany: Early ExperiencesChapter Seven: Last Days at the Bishop’s Palace for Foreign and Italian JewsChapter Eight: Post War: The Search for a Return to Normal: For Jews, a Future of Virtual JudaismBibliographyAbout the Author

Judith Roumani is founder and director of the Jewish Institute of Pitigliano.

Dr. Roumani is not only the director and founder of the Jewish Institute of Pitigliano, but she is also a member of a prominent Sephardic family. With her background, she brings to light with vivid expression the complex social condition of the region’s Jews through an examination of archival documents, published memoirs, and scholarly works from Italian sources not readily known to western researchers. So little is recognized of Italian Jewry that this segment, situated in the trauma of World War II, is worthy of wide attention.

• List of Illustrations AcknowledgmentsList of Sources List of PersonalitiesA Short Introduction Chapter One: Pitigliano and Other Cities of Refuge for Jews in Southern Tuscany over the CenturiesChapter Two: A Bolt from the Blue? Fascist Racial Laws of 1938 and their Effects in Southern TuscanyChapter Three: Town versus Country, Conformity versus Defiance: Contrasting Behaviors Involving JewsChapter Four: Hiding Like Animals, in Caves, Barns and Farms; and the Righteous Gentiles of Tuscany Who Risked their Lives Protecting JewsChapter Five: At the Mercy of the Church and the Fascists: The Obligingly Hospitable Bishop Galeazzi of Grosseto, and the Experience of Jews Who Turned Themselves InChapter Six: Foreign Jewish Refugees Who Fled to Tuscany: Early ExperiencesChapter Seven: Last Days at the Bishop’s Palace for Foreign and Italian JewsChapter Eight: Post War: The Search for a Return to Normal: For Jews, a Future of Virtual JudaismBibliographyAbout the Author