La scoperta della vera AMERICA – “The Real Discovery of America” – An antisemitic and anti-American publication claiming that the Jews effectively control American interests, linking the United States’ entry into the war in Europe to hidden Jewish motives for global domination: “The Jewish will has found in American stupidity the most suitable weapon for its global objectives, ” while also attacking the conduct of the American nation itself as “spineless.” Edited by Gian Luigi Brignone. Published by Editoriale Arte e Storia – the propaganda office of the P.N.F. (Palotta Press), Rome, [1942] – first edition. In Italian.
An antisemitic publication portraying the American nation as a heterogeneous, spineless population, “a population of 120 million people who identify themselves by a flag of stars and stripes”, and as “an infantile spirit in a man’s body, a misguided being, a man who has grown immensely in body, yet whose spirit, due to a congenital defect, has remained in its infancy.” The American people are described as having “no history, born from the offspring of men of all races in search of adventure.” Therefore, “it is clear why the Jews chose the United States as their promised land.” The author explains that the Jews supposedly found America’s weakness—its lack of tradition, and saw it as an easy target for domination: “This is why Roosevelt is the trustee of world Jewry; this is why in New York alone there are more than a thousand synagogues, ” and claims that “this is how Jewry led the American people into war…”.
This hate-filled and venomous booklet was published in Fascist Italy, throughout which the author spews toxic antisemitic rhetoric, claiming that Jews supposedly control America: “The Jewish will has found in American stupidity the most suitable weapon for its global objectives, ” it states.
One of the photographs in the booklet depicts the Jewish figure John Lewis, described as “the great agitator, an enemy of the Axis in service of synagogue interests.” U.S. President Roosevelt is portrayed as a servant of the Jews and as “a gangster who succeeds in organizing a large gang and, with its help, pulls the strings of a complex criminal organization.” He is said to be dominated by his wife, Eleanor Roosevelt, who is depicted as exploiting politics for personal financial gain. America itself is described as a country devoid of social justice: “Fear and hatred this is the psychological complex underlying the relationship between the two races: whites fear Blacks and torture them; Blacks hate whites for the oppression they suffer and for the degraded conditions in which they are forced to live. There is in this a primitiveness, a truly disturbing psychological pity.”
(Photographs are included depicting white men torturing a Black man, as well as supposed scenes of the torture of Black individuals in America.)
It is further claimed that the American state routinely mistreats its citizens—over a million New Yorkers are said to lack a bathroom in their homes, and the gap between rich and poor is constantly widening. While some enjoy themselves in theaters and cinemas, others lie destitute in the streets, and crime runs rampant in the major cities.
Throughout the booklet, full-page photographs are accompanied by statements of hatred directed against the American people and the Jews.
During World War II, the fascist ideology in Italy adopted conspiracy theories portraying the Jews as the executors of American interests, and thus as those responsible for escalating the global conflict. Antisemitic publications in official institutions and the media emphasized the fictional link between “American Jews” and U.S. foreign policy, presenting them as dual enemies, both by religion and by nationality. This combination of Jew-hatred and anti-Americanism served the militant regime by forging a common enemy in the public sphere, legitimizing legal discrimination, deportation, and persecution. The result was the reinforcement of demonic stereotypes portraying Jews as scapegoats and as a unifying force for both the internal and external hatreds of the Italian population.
Cover design by Domenico Ciaudro: instead of the stars on the American flag, a Star of David and the symbol of the Freemasons appear (hinting at Jewish control over America), with a ship below as an analogue to Columbus’ vessel symbolizing a “New America.”
Rare. Only a few copies listed in the WorldCat global library catalog.
[64] pp. Good – very good condition.
