Bruno Segre brutally become aware of his Jewish identity at the age of 8 when the racial laws of 1938 denied him the right to attend public school. He was able to return only in 1945. In the intervening period he experienced the dramatic death of his father and witnessed his mother assume the role of head of the family while having to go into hiding at the risk of deportation after the armistice signed between Italy and the allies. For the Segre family, they survived but other friends and relations perished in the Shoah. Studying at university with Antonio Banfi, collaborating with Adriano Olivetti, teaching in Ticino, Switzerland, Segre then worked as an editor and writer in a variety of newspapers and magazines. Following his retirement, he became an active critic within the Italian Jewish community after witnessing Israel’s apparent betrayal of its initial promise in the 1960s. He questioned the growing nationalism within the Zionist project and looked for solutions to the perennial search for Israeli and Palestinian peace. His own story recorded here in an intense conversation with Alberto Saibene illustrates the troubled existence of a people that has never stopped questioning themselves.

Bruno Segre (Lucerne, 1930), researcher of Jewish culture and history, for over 10 years was member of the Council for the Milan Jewish Documentation Center. From 1991 – 2007 he served as president for the Italian Friends Association of Nevé Shalom/Wahat al-Salam. He was director of Keshet, a periodicial on Jewish culture and life from 2001 – 2011.

Alberto Saibene (Varese, 1965), historian of Italian 20th century culture, editorial consulatant, film and documentary writer, curator of the writings of Adriano Olivetti for the Edizioni di Comunità. One of the authors of, Negli immediati dintorni (2015) published also by Casagrande.