Images of a Pedagogy of Defiance: Analysis of Photographs of Children in Jewish Schools in Italy during the Racial Laws, 1938–1943

This study presents an analysis of photographs of Jewish schools in Italy during the period of the racial laws, from 1938 until 1943. Jewish children, teachers and academics were banned from all Italian schools and institutions. In response, the Jewish comunities built schools that provided an education for the children. The few found photographs reflect a unique pedagogy. The analysis aims to understand how the photographs were constructed and how their style expresses the pedagogy. The study presents photographs taken from a fascist school in Rome, in order to gain a comparison with norms of education and documentation in fascist Italian education.