yóu tài

犹太

lǚ

旅

 

：

yī duàn

一段

yǒu

有

zhēng yì

争议

de

的

lì shǐ

历史

The Jewish Brigade was formed in December 1944, organized through cooperation between the Jewish Agency and the British government.

About 4,000 volunteers took part. They came from 54 countries, and included a small number of non-Jews.

The unit first trained in Egypt and Italy, and only began fighting in Italy in the spring of 1945, engaging retreating German forces; 30 Jewish soldiers were killed.

Fazzolo believes that the Jewish Brigade fought for only a short time, but later became an important political symbol.

He also introduced the history of Jewish resistance to the Nazis in Europe, such as the armed struggles in the Warsaw and Minsk ghettos.

In 2018, the President of Italy awarded the Jewish Brigade the Military Gold Medal.

Fazzolo believes that this decision, along with the Israeli flags at the commemorative events, changed people’s understanding of history and linked the Jewish Brigade to today’s Israeli politics.

However, he also stressed that people should respect the Jewish volunteers who took part in the anti-fascist struggle at that time.