What is the main conflict in A Thread of Grace by Mary Doria Russell?

When Mussolini surrendered in 1942, Jews were no longer under the Italian Army's protection from the invading Germans, and many fled from several small countries over the treacherous Alps to northern Italy. Small farms and villages in these mountains, populated by people of diverse political and religious beliefs, extended their hands and homes to 43,000 Jewish refugees who might otherwise have been lost to the horrors of Nazi death camps.