Syndrome K: The Illness That Never Was
Amid the chaos of war and the pressure of Nazi occupation, Vittorio Emanuel conceived a daring plan: invent a disease. Collaborating with an Italian friend, the young doctor began filling out reports, preserving samples, and documenting hospitalizations—all centered around a fictitious disease he named 'Syndrome K'.
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In September 1943, the last of the surviving Jews in Italy languished under the Nazi boot. The Nazis' special units hunted and sought to annihilate any remaining Jewish lives. Italy's ruler, Mussolini, fully collaborated with the Nazis.
At a hospital in Rome, a Jewish doctor named Dr. Vittorio Emanuel Sacerdoti worked as an essential employee since injured soldiers arrived daily from the battlefields, and every doctor was crucial, although ultimately the Nazis and Italians aimed to destroy all Jews, even the necessary ones.
Amidst the turmoil of battles and pressure of Nazi occupation, Vittorio Emanuel had an idea: invent a disease. Together with an Italian colleague, the young doctor started submitting reports, keeping samples, documenting hospitalizations—all around a fabricated disease he called "Syndrome K".
The disease, supposedly, was highly contagious, and for some reason, it only affected Jews... Anyone "diagnosed" with the disease had to be placed in special isolation rooms at the hospital. They could not be sent on trains, imprisoned, or handled any other way, only isolated...
Thus, around sixty Jews were isolated for nearly a year until liberation at the hospital in Rome, classified as afflicted with a severe and frightening illness that was actually nothing—just the brilliance of a Jew, *Siyata Dishmaya*, and people whose fate was sealed for life even through these harsh years of wrath.
