Truth and False in Portraits: Analysis of the Mechanism of ID Portraits in Forged Cards in Rome Under Nazi Occupation

This study presents a visual analysis of two ID cards of mother and daughter in Rome, under Nazi occupation. The study seeks to unravel the mechanism and use of forged ID cards during Nazi occupation, focusing on the construction of the portraits, text, and signatures, and how they project on the presumed authenticity of the information in the ID card. The portraits and signatures are compared to portraits and signatures from before and after the war. The analysis of the image and the text explore the process of making meaning of the visual and textual data in the forged cards. The procurement, function and use of ID cards in Rome during the Nazi occupation provide a contextual background for this research. The analysis aims to explore whether such portraits, taken for ID cards, can serve as a site of memory, as a mnemic trace of a family’s untold trauma in a case where memory does not exist.