In 1933, after Hitler took power, Mussolini said "National pride has no need of the delirium of race!" However, in 1938, Mussolini decided to cement a military alliance with Hitler, and Italian fascism had to perform verbal somersaults to explain away Mussolini's anti-racist statements.

The signs in the store fronts shown in the film 'Life is Beautiful' "No Jews or dogs allowed" were, in fact, common in most Italian cities after 1938.

Italy's Jews were excluded from public jobs, public schools and many professions. But persecution did not lead to extermination until toward the end of World War II. In September of 1943, the Italian government, seeing that the war was lost, ousted Mussolini, made a separate peace with the Allies and tried to withdraw from conflict. The Germans quickly occupied most of Italy and began hunting down and deporting Jews. In the eighteen months of German occupation, some 15,000 of the roughly 57,000 Italian Jews were arrested and deported.