Everything Everywhere Daily: History, Science, Geography & More - Syndrome K

Episode Date: December 3, 2020

In 1943, the Italian government surrendered to the Allied forces. The Germans, not wanting to cede such a larger part of Europe to the Allies, quickly occupied northern and central Italy. However, as the Germans occupied Rome there occurred an outbreak of what was known as Syndrome K. Caes of Syndrome K in one Rome hospital was so great, that even members of the dreaded German Gestapo feared to enter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In 1943, the Italian government surrendered to the Allied forces. The Germans, not wanting to cede such a large part of Europe to the Allies, quickly occupied northern and central Italy. However, as the Germans occupied Rome, there occurred an outbreak of what was known as Syndrome K. Cases of Syndrome K in one Roman hospital were so great that even members of the dreaded German Gestapo feared to enter. Learn more about Syndrome K, the disease which saved lives, on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Fear is the virus is trending on TikTok.

Vaccines are poison. Then your yoga teacher says that sex traffic children are being sacrificed by satanic liberals. But it's all okay. The Great Awakening is coming. What is happening? Every week on Conspiratuality Podcast, we explore the fever dreams that suck friends, family, and wellness gurus down the right-wing cult spiral in a search for salvation. This episode is sponsored by Audible.com. My audiobook recommendation today is The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich,

a history of Nazi Germany by William Shire. Since its publication in 1960, William Shire's monumental study of Hitler's German Empire has been widely acclaimed as the definitive record of the 20th century's blackest hours. The rise and fall of the Third Reich offers an unparalleled and thrilling, told examination of how Adolf Hitler nearly succeeded in conquering the world.

This is a richly reward. experience for anyone who wants to come to grips with the mysterious question of how this menace to civilization ever came into being, much less was sustained for as long as it was. You can get a free one-month trial to Audible and two free audiobooks by going to audibletrial.com slash everything everywhere or by clicking on the link in the show notes. In 1943, the war wasn't going so well for Italy. The Allies had invaded Sicily in July and quickly liberated the island. This led to the collapse of the Italian government. The leader of Italy, Benito Mussolini, was arrested, and the Italian king, Victor Emmanuel I,

3rd, signed a treaty of unconditional surrender with the Allies. This allowed the Allies to land in Italy unmolested and occupied the lower half of the peninsula. The Germans couldn't let the Allies get that much of a foothold in Europe, so they quickly rushed in and occupied the northern half of Italy, creating something called the Italian Social Republic. They busted Mussolini out of jail and set them up as their puppet ruler. The division of the country was a line that was roughly between Rome and Naples. When Mussolini and the fascist party came to power in Italy in in 1922, they did not have an anti-Semitic platform. Jews had lived in Italy for over 2,000 years, and Rome was one of the largest Jewish populations in the world since the diaspora. There were even

Jewish members of the fascist party. In 1938, Italy enacted anti-Semitic laws that stripped Italian Jews of civil rights. This was mostly under pressure from Nazi Germany. There were roundups of Jews, but conditions were much better than what they were in German occupied areas of Europe. There were no desk camps and no Jews were transported to Nazi-controlled facilities. So things in Italy were not good by any means, but they were a whole lot better than the rest of Europe. After the collapse of the Italian government in July 1943, Jews were released from prison facilities and concentration camps. In the south, all of the Jews and facilities there wound up protected by the Allies. In the north, however, they were not so lucky. When the Germans'

entered Italy in September 1943, what little protection the Jews had in Italy were suddenly gone. German SS units began rounding up Italian Jews almost immediately after they entered Italy, and the new Italian puppet state assisted them. On October 16, 1943, the Nazis mounted a huge operation in Rome's Jewish quarter.

A hospital on an island in the Tiber River, the Fatei-Freteli Hospital, was right next to the Jewish quarter. When German officials came to inspect the hospital, The staff there told them that they were welcome to inspect whatever they liked, but they should stay out of the ward with patients who were suffering from Syndrome K. Syndrome K, they were told, was a highly infectious disease that was worse than the plague. The syndrome was unknown, but it exhibited symptoms similar to tuberculosis with permanent disfiguring. Even short exposure risked catching the disease and transmitting it to everyone else in their unit.

The Nazis, fearful of catching Syndrome K., left immediately and never asked any questions. What was this mysterious Syndrome K? Syndrome K was nothing more than a hoax fabricated by the doctors at the hospital to rescue Jews who had fled there for safety. Syndrome K was invented by Dr. Giovanni Borromeo, the hospital's head physician. He was an anti-fascist who took the job

at the Fatibeni Fratelli Hospital because it was a Catholic hospital. He was offered jobs to head up to larger hospitals but turned them down because it required him to be a member of the fascist party. At a private Catholic hospital, there were no political requirements. He hired other fascists like Dr. Viottoe Sacridoti, who refused to join the fascist party. One doctor, Adriano Osacini, created the name

Syndrome K. He named it after Albert Kestreling, who was the Nazi commander-in-chief in the region, and Herbert Kapler, who was the Nazi police chief in Rome. It was a subtle jab that only the doctors in the hospital knew. Syndrome K became the code word over the next two years for any Jewish refugees which came through the hospital. Everyone who entered received paperwork just like any other patient would. If someone knew that the refugees would be coming, they would request a certain number of beds for syndrome K patients. Children who were brought in were taught how to cough on command whenever a Nazi official

came by for an inspection. Throughout the entire war, the Nazis never found out about the ruse. The total number of people saved at the hospital is unknown, but it's estimated to be between multiple dozens of people to several hundred. Of the 4,800 Jews in Rome sent to concentration camps in 1943, only 314 survived the war. Many of the doctors at Fatay-Benny Fratelli Hospital, including Dr. Osisacini and Boromio, were later awarded the honorific, righteous amongst the nations, by the state of Israel. In 2016, the hospital was named a House of Life by the International Ralu Wallenberg Foundation.

A plaque now sits outside the hospital, which reads, quote, This place was a beacon of light in the darkness of the Holocaust. It's our moral duty to remember these great heroes for new generations to recognize and appreciate them. Executive producer of Everything Everywhere Daily is James McAula. The associate producer is Thor Thompson. Remember to leave a five-star review to get your review read on the show. They can be left at Apple Podcasts, Podcast, Podcast Republic, or wherever you listen to the show. Also, you can help support the show over at patreon.com.

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