12. The Italians labeled the new disorder as Syndrome K
About two dozen refugees arrived at the hospital during the raid on the Jewish Ghetto in October, 1943. Over the course of the German occupation of Rome, many more managed to evade capture and seek refuge in the hospital on Tiber Island. During the German occupation, which lasted roughly 9 months, another 1,000 or so Italian Jews were identified to the Germans by collaborators, captured, and sent via the railway cars to the death camps. Partisan warfare continued to plague the city and its environs. The existence of the puppet government in the north, established by Hitler and headed by Mussolini, meant that Italy was torn by civil warfare, as well as the war between the Germans and the Allies.
The Jews (and other refugees, including Italian deserters) who arrived at Fatebenefratelli were diagnosed as suffering from the somewhat mysterious K Syndrome. The illness itself presented symptoms which were inconsistent and for the most part failed to respond to treatment. Visiting SS and German Order Police were allowed to inspect the records and the wards in which the patients were treated. The refugees were taught to cough and wheeze heavily when Germans were present in the building. The Germans preferred to avoid the ward where those diagnosed as suffering from what the Italians labeled K Syndrome were treated. The fear of contracting the disease outweighed orders from Berlin to deport all of the Italian Jews.