Behind the Battle Lines: Italian Atrocities and the Persecution of Arabs, Berbers, and Jews in North Africa during World War II

During World War II, Italians committed numerous atrocities against civilians and allied POWs in Axis-occupied North Africa, and especially in Libya, one of Italy's oldest colonies. Atrocities were ordered by the political and military leadership, but racist thinking and actions were widespread among junior officials, soldiers of the Italian Army, and even Italian colonists. The author argues that the colonial context contributed to the dramatic radicalization of Fascist rule after 1940 and distinguished the Libyan case from the Italian occupation regimes in Croatia and Greece. What the events in Libya underline is that, when discussing the persecution and killing of Jews during World War II, we must consider not only Europe but North Africa as well.