Italy and Jewish Migrations in the Twentieth Century

Throughout the twentieth century, Italy played a strategic role in Jewish migratory processes, gradually transforming from a place of transit into a space of stable settlement. Initial migrations—limited in scope and driven by economic and geopolitical factors—intensified with the rise of totalitarian regimes and racial persecutions. The postwar period marked a turning point: thousands of Jewish refugees passed through the country, which became a logistical base for clandestine aliyah to Mandatory Palestine. From the 1950s onward, new migratory waves from North Africa and the Middle East profoundly reshaped the composition of Italian Jewry.