«The Chair with the Green Back and Yellow Flowers». Furniture and other Property belonging to Jewish Families in Trieste during Second World War: the Frigessi Affair

In September 1943, Trieste became a province of the German Operational Zone of the Adriatic Littoral. By the High Commissioner Friedrich Rainer’s orders, furniture belonging to Jewish families was confiscated, and art collections and libraries were dismantled. In the autumn 1943, and in 1944, the Germans even confiscated Arnoldo Frigessi di Rattalma’s property, notwithstanding he had been declared as «not belonging to the Jewish race», thanks to his ‘fascist credits’. Arnoldo Frigessi represents an interesting case of the Fascist Jews’ situation. After the war, he was arrested by the Allies, and imprisoned for some months in an Allied concentration camp.