Doctors in Rome used fake disease to hide Jews from Nazis

During the Nazi occupation of Rome between September 1943 and June 1944, doctors at the Fatebenefratelli Hospital implemented a clandestine strategy to protect Jewish refugees by inventing a fictitious, highly contagious illness known as ‘Syndrome K’.

Led by Giovanni Borromeo, Adriano Ossicini, and Vittorio Emanuele Sacerdoti, the medical staff registered persecuted individuals as patients suffering from this non-existent disease. The fake diagnosis, which supposedly caused convulsions, paralysis, and asphyxiation, served to create isolation wards that deterred German soldiers from entering the premises due to fear of infection. The name ‘K’ may have been a code for the Jewish individuals needing protection or a reference to German General Albert Kesselring.

Sacerdoti, a Jewish doctor, was able to work at the private institution using a false identity, while Borromeo actively supported the Italian resistance. While the operation could not prevent all arrests and some individuals were still captured, estimates suggest the ruse saved between 20 and over 100 people. For his actions, Giovanni Borromeo was later honored as ‘Righteous Among the Nations’ by Yad Vashem.