It Happened In Italy

I love reading books about the Holocaust. That particular time period fascinates me. Thus when I got the opportunity to review It Happened In Italy, a book by Elizabeth Bettina which is a story about one woman's discovery about internment camps in Italy, I jumped at it.

If you enjoy the history of the Holocaust and reading about World War II, this is probably not the book for you. However, if you enjoy reading about travel, Italy, tourism, the Vatican, or personal recounts of people's vacations, then this may just be the book for you.

I was very disappointed that more stories of the Jewish peoples, as well as the Italian stories of how it all came together, really seemed to take a backseat to Ms. Bettina's travel log. The book was supposed to be based on the heroic acts of Giovanni Palatucci, the Italian official who hid these Jews in Italy, an act for which he died in Dachau. I was hoping to finally get to hear about an area that cared more about people than their religion and what I really got was a lot of "I" statements.

The sad part is that if a seasoned author had helped Ms. Bettina write this book my review may sound totally different. The idea was good and one that there is not enough written about.