Nationalism, Italy and the Exhibition of the Holocaust: Findings of a Study on the Recently built Museums of Campagna and San Donato

Abstract

In recent years, Italy has seen a proliferation of Holocaust Museums and Memorials. This article focuses on two recent additions: the Museum of the Twentieth Century and the Shoah in San Donato Val di Comino (Frosinone), and the Memory and Peace Museum Giovanni Palatucci Study Center in Campagna (Salerno). It uses qualitative methods including in-depth interviews, direct observation, analysis of information panels, other audio and visual elements, and is guided by a theoretical framework rooted in theories of nationalism. The research findings show that these museums present an overly positive narrative of Italy’s role in the Holocaust lacking critical examination and perpetuating the myth of the “good Italian” already identified by other scholars. The museums emphasize favourable conditions for Jewish internees without considering factual evidence that could have provided a more balanced perspective. Additionally, they fail to acknowledge Italian collaboration with Nazi Germany, both, at the exhibition sites and elsewhere. Both museums highlight a Christian salvific narrative, stressing the role of Christian Italians saving Jews, and perpetuating stereotypes of Jews as passive victims. Additionally, Jews are excluded from the notion of “Italianness” and portrayed as “others.” Also, fascism is excluded, deemed incompatible with the idealized Italian Christian civilization proposed by the museums.

Keywords

• holocaust
• nationalism
• museums
• public memory
• public history
• italy