Despite decades of grassroots work, a community descended from Jews forced into hiding during the Spanish Inquisition fights an uphill battle against local religious bureaucracy
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Messauda Fadlun, seen in old photos, was living in Libya in 1938 when it was an Italian colony and under the racist laws targeting the Jewish community. (Courtesy of Ariel Finzi/ via JTA)
JTA In 2012, Messauda Fadlun received a letter from the Italian government asking her to return all the money she had been receiving as part of a restitution program for those racially persecuted by the fascist regime during World War II.
Fadlun, an Italian-Libyan Jew, and her family were shocked.
“We thought there had been a mistake,” said Ariel Finzi, Fadlun’s son, who is the rabbi of Naples. “Worst case, we presumed the government would stop paying for the pension, but not that we would have to return the money.”