Soldiers, Angels and Avengers: The Jewish Brigade in Italy

Join Dr Gianluca Fantoni as he chronicles the formation, deployment and field conduct of the Jewish Brigade Infantry Group during the Second World War.

The Jewish Brigade Infantry Group (JBG), was a 5,000-strong military unit of the British Army, primarily recruited from the Jewish population of Mandatory Palestine.

Despite its late entry to the Italian theatre of war in 1944, it fought with courage and determination on the few opportunities it had to do so. However, its political and symbolic importance far outweighed its military significance.

The soldiers of the Brigade also acted as ‘angels’, significantly contributing to the recovery of the shattered Jewish communities of Italy. Even more importantly, they established an informal network to rescue, shelter and eventually smuggle the remnants of European Jewry to Palestine.

Alongside this, some elements of the Brigade engaged in much darker activity, forming squads of avengers to hunt down and execute Nazis in Austria and Germany.

In this revealing talk, Dr Gianluca Fantoni will highlight the role and legacy of the JBG during the Second World War and how their actions shaped post-war Europe.

About the speaker

Gianluca Fantoni

Dr Gianluca Fantoni is Senior Lecturer in the Department of Humanities at Nottingham Trent University. He specialises in Modern European History with a focus on fascism, media and history, and the public and political use of history. He is also a member of the Association for the Study of Modern Italy and co-editor of its academic journal, ‘Modern Italy’.