Unavoidable Hope: A Jewish Soldier's Fight to Save His Family from Fascism

Unavoidable Hope: A Jewish Soldier's Fight to Save His Family from Fascism by Roger Sabbadini. paperback edition. ISBN: 9780692946800.

A compelling true story of Italian Jewish refugee, Alessandro (Alex) Sabbadini, who escaped Fascist Italy to America on the eve of WWII only to join the fight in Italy with the U.S. 5th Army. He was in the fight for personal reasons – to liberate Italy and his Jewish family who were being pursued by the Fascists and the Nazis. The story of the Sabbadini family and Alex Sabbadini’s quest to discover their fate is not told in a chronological order but dramatically begins with the January 22, 1944 invasion of Italy at the seaside towns of Anzio and Nettuno where Alex landed a mere 200 yards in front of the Sabbadini summer villa. In one of the great fiascoes of the war, the Allies became trapped in a small strip of beachhead with their backs to the sea, facing 120,000 German troops who thwarted the Allies’ plan to capture Rome and Alex’s ability to reunite with his family. During the agonizing stalemate, the horror of the Anzio/Nettuno battle is documented from Alex’s perspective; but the seemingly eternity of time he spent there is used to reminisce on the history of Alex’s archetypical family in context of the robust history of the Jews in Italy. Flashbacks also involve earlier military activities of the Mediterranean Campaign and the antecedents that brought Alex to the doorstep of Rome. Alex was one of a very few Italian-born Jews to fight with the Allies in North Africa, Sicily and Italy. Alex accompanied the troops that were tasked with the mission of capturing Benito Mussolini. He witnessed Mussolini in death and sat at Il Duce’s desk examining the Italian dictator’s military and personal documents. Alex Sabbadini’s personal photographs and other documents have historical value and contribute greatly to the unique character of the story. This book would be of interest to those who have read "Sons and Soldiers", "Unbroken" and "A Bold and Dangerous Family"