On Tuesday, October 27, 2026, at 5:30 p.m., the "Carlo and Vera Wagner" Museum of the Jewish Community of Trieste - located at Via del Monte 7, Trieste - will host the presentation of Federico Goddi’s book, "Il prezzo della salvezza. Fascismo e “questione ebraica” in Dalmazia (1941–1943)" (Giuntina, 2026).

Tullia Catalan and Matteo Perissinotto, from the Department of Humanities (DiSU) at the University of Trieste, will be in conversation with the author.

The event is held in collaboration with the Department of Humanities of the University of Trieste and the Foundation of the Museum of the Shoah in Rome.

Between 1941 and 1943, thousands of Jews fled from Croatia, Serbia, and Bosnia, seeking refuge in areas occupied by the Italian Army and in territories annexed by Fascist Italy. This flight offered many of them a real chance at survival, thanks to the protection—at times ambiguous, yet at other times decisive—provided by Italian military and civilian authorities. For decades, historians have debated the reasons why Italy, an ally of Nazi Germany, did not systematically hand these refugees over to persecution, but instead, in many instances, ensured their reception and safety. Was this a choice driven by the need to assert political autonomy from its German ally? Was it a humanitarian impulse rooted in the actions of specific individuals within the state apparatus? Or was it, more pragmatically, a matter of economic calculations and administrative expediency?
Moving beyond comforting myths and ideological interpretations—and drawing on rigorous research conducted in previously unexplored archives—this book reconstructs, for the first time, the actual workings of the Italian "protection system" within the Governorate of Dalmatia.

Federico Goddi, a tenure-track researcher in Contemporary History at Sapienza University of Rome, serves as vice-president of IRSIFAR (the Roman Institute for the History of Italy from Fascism to the Resistance). His research interests focus on 20th-century history, with a particular emphasis on the Second World War in the Balkans - a subject he has explored in the monographs *Fronte Montenegro: occupazione italiana e giustizia militare 1941–1943* (Leg, 2016 and 2025) and "Il prezzo della salvezza. Fascismo e “questione ebraica” in Dalmazia 1941–1943" (Giuntina, 2026), as well as in the critical edition *Avvenimenti dopo l’Armistizio. La relazione del tenente colonnello Antonio Zitelli (Montenegro, 1941–1944)* (Biblion, 2024).

For information: museumcarloeverawagner@triestebraica.it 

www.museoebraicotrieste.it