24. The K Syndrome story is shrouded in mystery
Over the years many of the participants in the events which occurred in Fatebenefratelli told their stories of their experiences. Over time, they became distorted as memories faded or merged together. Some reported having stayed at the hospital as young children, with their families, for periods ranging from a few days to several weeks. Some described the experience as being one of feeling safe in the hands of the doctors, others that there was never freedom from the nagging fear of being found by the Nazis. Some participants exaggerated their roles, others such as Father Bialek and Giovanni Borromeo downplayed theirs.
The fake diagnosis of a debilitating illness known as K Syndrome may have saved hundreds, or it may have saved just a few. Which is correct is immaterial in some ways. That it saved any is what is truly important. It was just one example of resistance to the Nazis by a handful of persons, intent on providing the relief that they could to those facing the horror of the Final Solution. Overall, approximately 8,000 Italian Jews were killed during the event known as the Holocaust, the majority of them at Auschwitz, to which about 10,000 were deported. Over 40,000 Italian Jews survived, many of them through efforts such as those demonstrated at Fatebenefratelli.
Where do we find this stuff? Here are our sources:
“Mussolini’s Italy: Life Under the Dictatorship 1915-1945”. R. J. Bosworth. 2006
“Jews in Italy Under Fascist and Nazi Rule”. Joshua D. Zimmerman. 2005
“The Righteous: The Unsung Heroes of the Holocaust”. Martin Gilbert. 2002
“1943: The Nazis Deport the Jews From Rome”. This date in Jewish History, Haaretz. October 18, 2012
“The Pope’s Jews: The Vatican’s Secret Plan to Save Jews From the Nazis”. Gordon Thomas. 2012
“The ‘deadly’ syndrome that saved lives in WWII”. Naveed Selah, MDLinx. Online
“Resisting the Holocaust: Upstanders, Partisans, and Survivors”. Paul Robert Bartrop. 2016
“The quiet heroes of wartime Italy”. Gillian Tett, Financial Times. October 17, 2014