Page 145 - La Grande Guerra dei Carabinieri - Flavio CARBONE

145
Disegno raffigurante il fregio da Rabbino militare del Regio Esercito
(circolare 4848 del 1915).

The Great War,

the Carabinieri Corps and

Italian Jews
Italian Jews

talians of all social classes and religious faiths participated in the
world war, according to the spirit of the times. In particular, the
I Italians of Jewish faith continued in their commitment to the
country by taking up arms on this occasion as they had continuously
done since 1848 and from the Albertine Statute concession, which tol-
erated other religions. A great many Jewish citizens of the Kingdom of
Sardinia, of other pre-unification States and then of the Kingdom of
Italy took up arms and participated in the long struggle for Independ-
ence and national Unification. It became immediately clear, that this
fight, to the most orthodox nationalists was the “Fourth War of In-
dependence”. Among the testimonies of participants in the military
operations, remain the memoirs, the letters of the combatants and the tombstones in memory of those who gave
their lives for the cause. From the citizens who fought, among whom the most important for the history of the
Carabinieri is undoubtedly Ivo Levi, an army officer and First World War veteran, who subsequently trans-
ferred to the Carabinieri and distinguished himself in the service of the institute, only to be dismissed by the
infamous fascist racial laws. It was his fortunate escape to Switzerland and the end of the Second World War
which allowed him to re-enter the ranks of the Carabinieri and to become Deputy General Commander: the
highest rank that a soldier in the Carabinieri Corps could reach at that time.