Did you know that during World War II, some Italian doctors made up a fake deadly disease to trick the Nazis and save Jewish people? They called it Syndrome K (or Il Morbo di K). It was described as a serious, contagious illness — but it didn’t actually exist.
The hospital was called Fatebenefratelli, and it was known as a safe place for Jews, thanks to Professor Giovanni Borromeo. On October 16, 1943, the Catholic hospital opened its doors to Jews looking for shelter. But Borromeo knew that the Nazis might search the hospital. So, he and two other doctors — Vittorio Sacerdoti and Adriano Ossicini — came up with a smart plan.
They decided that every Jew who came to the hospital would be listed as a new patient and “diagnosed” with Syndrome K. These patients were then put in quarantine. When the Nazis came to search the hospital, they were told that certain rooms had people with a terrible, highly infectious disease that caused disfigurement.
The trick worked. The Nazis stayed away from those rooms, afraid of catching the disease — and as a result, many Jews were saved. Syndrome K may have been fake, but it became the “illness” that helped save lives.

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