Social Hour at 1 pm
Dinner and Presentation at 2 pm
$20 per person - Free for students
RSVP by October 20
541-565-3232
Come help us honor the memory of our Sherman County men who fought in the Italian campaign. Enjoy a “homefront meal” complete with wartime rationing in mind. Get a signed copy of Roger Sabbadini’s book “Unavoidable Hope”.
Unavoidable Hope
The Saga of Alessandro (Alex) SabbadiniPresented by Roger A. Sabbadini
Alessandro Sabbadini was an Italian Jew born in Rome and lived for eighteen years under the Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini who came to power in Italy in 1922. The history of the Sabbadini family is part of the robust history of the Jews in Italy and how they weathered the Fascist period and the subsequent Nazi occupation of their country.
Alessandro escaped Fascist Italy to America in 1939 on the eve of WWII only to join the fight with the U.S. 5th Army in the G-2 Intelligence Service. Sabbadini fought in North Africa, Sicily, and up the Italian peninsula towards Rome to save his family and his country of origin from the grips of Fascism and Nazi occupation. In one of his many experiences, Sabbadini’s third amphibious landed was at the Anzio beachhead on January 22, 1944 where he arrived on the beach just two hundred meters in front of the Sabbadini summer villa where Alessandro spent the first twenty-three summers of his life. Prior to the Racial Laws of 1938, the Sabbadini family was well-integrated into the social and economic fabric of Italian culture and society.
In another episode near the end of the war, Sabbadini was assigned to a special force unit ordered to capture Fascist leader Benito Mussolini. They missed Il Duce by a couple of hours, but Sabbadini was able to sit at Benito Mussolini’s undisturbed desk examining the Italian dictator’s military and personal documents and other artifacts.
According to the Fascist Racial Laws, Alessandro Sabbadini was dishonorably discharged from the Italian Army, as Jews were considered security threats and unfit for service. Other Racial Laws declared that Jews were no longer considered Italian. They were prohibited from engaging in many professions such as law, medicine, political office, and teaching. The Fascist State confiscated their homes and businesses. Jews were no longer considered Italian but declared a distinct race. As was the case for many European Jews, the rights of Italian Jews were progressively eroded to a point where they effectively lost their country and their identity as Italian citizens. That is when Alex Sabbadini decided to make his exodus to the United States.
Roger Sabbadini is an Emeritus Professor of Biology at San Diego State University and Co-founder of SDSU’s Institute for International Security and Conflict Resolution. Dr. Sabbadini is the eldest son of Alex Sabbadini, the subject of this presentation. Dr. Sabbadini wrote a biography of his father’s WWII experiences entitled, “Unavoidable Hope: A Jewish Soldier’s Fight to Save His Family from Fascism.” Currently, Roger Sabbadini lives in Bend, Oregon. He is representing the Oregon Jewish Museum and Center for Holocaust Education (OJMCHE).
Roger Sabbadini
