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Dr. Iael Nidam-Orvieto

Charles H. Revson Foundation Fellow
"The Reactions of Italian Jews, 1943-1945"

Professional Background

Professor Iael Nidam-Orvieto received a Ph.D. and an M.A. in history from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and a B.A in political science from the same university. During her fellowship at the Museum, she was a Lecturer at the Institute of Contemporary Jewry, Hebrew University of Jerusalem; Advisor on Italian subjects at Yad Vashem; Lecturer at Yad Vashem’s Seminar for Teachers; and Lecturer for the Seminar for Orthodox Women studying Holocaust-related subjects. For her Charles H. Revson Foundation Fellowship for Archival Research, Professor Nidam-Orvieto conducted research for her project “The Reactions of Italian Jews, 1943-1945.”

The author of several important scholarly articles, Professor Nidam-Orvieto’s research has helped to advance scholarship on Italian Jewry during the Holocaust. Her publications include “Letters to Mussolini: Italian Jews and the Racial Laws” in Remembering for the Future: The Holocaust in an Age of Genocide, John K. Roth and Elisabeth Maxwell, eds. (Palgrave, 2001); “Italian Jews Facing Racial Laws: Appeal to Mussolini as a Way of Coping” in Yalkut Moreshet (vol. 73, April 2002); “The Jewish Leadership in Italy during the Fascist Period and the Holocaust” in Bishvil Hazikaron (vol. 36, February-March 2000); and “The Case of the Villa Emma Children as a Reflection of the Rescue of Children during the Holocaust” in Contemporary Jewish Society: Proceeding of the Twelfth World Congress of Jewish Studies, July –August 1997 (World Union of Jewish Studies, 2001), among others. Professor Nidam-Orvieto is the recipient of a number of esteemed honors and awards, including the Pardo Roques Prize for her scholarly paper on Jewish education in Italy, dissertation prizes from Yad Vashem, the Ben Zvi Institute for the Study of Jewish Communities, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the Shlomo Gels and Fanny Balaban-Gels Fund.

Fellowship Research

During her residency at the Center, Professor Nidam-Orvieto researched the ways in which Italian Jews reacted to the German occupation of Italy and Mussolini’s fascist regime there between 1943 and 1945. She examined Jewish leadership during the war, Jewish responses to the deportations, and Jewish resistance activities, among other themes. She also explored how Jewish responses during the Holocaust have shaped Italian Jewish identity today.

Professor Nidam-Orvieto was in residence at the Mandel Center from June 1 to September 1, 2005.