1930 Bronze Art Deco Medal Italian Jewish Community Mussolini Italy Judaica
Thick, heavy medal with stunning original patina, having never been cleaned/polished. No dents/dings/scratches, in immaculate condition. Obverse: Italian legend in Art Deco styled lettering — “Vittorio Emanuelle III Re / Benito Mussolini Capo / Del Governo / Le Comunita Ebraiche / D’Italia a Ricordo Della Legge 30 X 1930 IX”. Italian Fascist party symbols present. Reverse: Menorah with Ten Commandments, and the legend “Senza La Legge Cielo E Terra Crollerebbero” (Without the law heaven and earth would collapse). This medal commemorates the “Jewish Communities Act” of 1930. The Jewish Communities Act developed under the Mussolini government, was designed to organize the Jewish legal standing and required every Jew to be a registered member of a Jewish community (which, unfortunately, made it easier in later years to institute anti-Semitic laws). A historically important medal. I was shocked to have it become available to me recently, knowing how rare it was. Shown in the last two screenshots is another example of this medal currently being offered on the internet from a coin dealer in Israel. There is a long, scholarly article from 2016 from Italy about this period of time. If you search these exact words on Google “MUSSOLINI E GLI EBREI Circolo Culturale Excalibur”, it is the first match that pops up. There you will see another example of this medal, also completely polished/cleaned! I guess of the few extant medals known how many were issued to begin with? Not more than 100, likely 50 or less, most have been cleaned at some point. This medal is truly museum worthy. The item “1930 Bronze Art Deco Medal Italian Jewish Community Mussolini Italy Judaica” is in sale since Wednesday, June 21, 2017. This item is in the category “Collectibles\Militaria\1919-38\Original Period Items”. The seller is “shmaltzy” and is located in New York, New York. This item can be shipped worldwide.