Thanks to H-ITAM
Imprisonment in Concentration Camps, Forcible Relocations, Confiscations of Property, Prohibited Zones, Travel Restrictions, Curfews, Identity Cards, Exclusion from Admission to selected areas....
Jews in Germany?? Yes, BUT also Italian Americans in the US during WWII !!
"Una Storia Segreta: The
Secret Story" will begin filming as a result of being awarded
a $50,000 grant by the California
Civil Liberties Public Education Project, reports Nick Black, producer,
The Italian American Film Project, and Turing Studio.
Black is calling on the Italian American Community to contact them with any resources like home movies, photos etc., from the period.
Readers may recall that it was Larry DiStasi's (of San Francisco) "Una Storia Segreta: The Secret Story" touring EXHIBIT that roused Tony LaPiana (of NIAC and Chicago) to formulate and successfully lobby for, under the most difficult circumstances, the LEGISLATION titled "Wartime Violation of Italian American Civil Liberties Act" that was written by John Calvelli, then deputy to Congressman Engle, and now President of COPMAIO.
Now, the MOVIE.....
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PRESS RELEASE:
(San Francisco) The Italian American Film Project is pleased to announce we have been awarded a $50,000 grant by the California Civil Liberties Public Education Project to begin filming UNA STORIA SEGRETA: THE SECRET STORY, a filmed documentary on the treatment of Italian Americans on the homefront in World War II.
UNA STORIA SEGRETA: THE SECRET STORY will cover the events after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, when war was declared and 600,000 Italian immigrants, who had lived peacefully in the US for years, were declared “enemy aliens.”
Within hours of the attack, FBI agents arrested hundreds of prominenti without warrant or charges. They were hauled in front of Justice Department hearings with no counsel and no opportunity to call witnesses. No one was found “innocent” – indeed, in the absence of charges, how would guilt or innocence be determined? Many of those arrested spent the rest of the war imprisoned in (Concentration) camps, despite having done nothing wrong.
In the period that followed, 10,000 Italians were forcibly relocated from their homes on the west coast, sometimes just a few blocks, in the belief that moving elderly immigrants from their homes would prevent imagined sabotage. The FBI confiscated (boats), short wave radios, guns, flashlights, and binoculars on the same basis. Senior members of the Administration and the Army were convinced, contrary to all evidence, that the Italian Americans were part of a huge 5th column movement.
The coast of California became a “prohibited zone”, which, since most fishermen were Italian, shut down the entire fishing industry, at a time when fish was in critically short supply. Joe DiMaggio’s father, Guiseppe, could not even visit his son’s restaurant on Fisherman’s Wharf, now in a prohibited zone.
Italians were not allowed to travel more than 5 miles from home and they had to observe a curfew from 8PM to 6AM. This completely disrupted the work and home life of Italian neighborhoods.
They were also required to carry photo ID’s at all times and failure to do so resulted in immediate internment. A few Italians were excluded from California for the duration. Finally, realizing the damage being done to his re-election campaign, Roosevelt ended the restrictions on Columbus Day 1942, but not before irreparable harm had been done to the Italian American communities.
UNA STORIA SEGRETA: THE SECRET
STORY tells a tale that flies in the face of
common knowledge about World
War II. After the war, the government kept all
records of the episode classified
and the Italian American community preferred to move on and forget.
But a nation has the responsibility to remember. This story has been
kept secret from both the general public and the Italian American community
for too long. For the elders it will be a vindication. For
younger people it will help them understand where they come from.
There is more to the Italian American heritage than the Roman Empire on PBS and “The Sopranos” on cable. This is an attempt to correct the record and hear the voices that have been stifled. Italian Americans are finally ready to talk.
Congress passed the Wartime Violation of Italian American Civil Liberties Act in 2000, declassifying wartime documents and revealing the extent of the episode.
The legislation calls for the education of the American public through the production of a documentary film suited for public broadcast, but does not mandate the necessary funding. We are working to raise a budget of $400,000. So far we have received funding from the NIAF, The Wallace Alexander Gerbode Foundation, and CCLPEP.
We are submitting proposals
to other major funding organizations, including UNICO national. We also
need the help of the Italian American community to fund and make
this film.
Director Judith Ehrlich Bertoni, whose last film THE GOOD WAR AND THOSE WHO REFUSED TO FIGHT IT, won both major history film awards in the U.S. for 2003, the Eric Barnouw and John O’Connor Awards, and Cinematographer Vicente Franco, whose DAUGHTER FROM DANANG was nominated for an Academy Award this year, will begin filming this month.
We urgently need to hear from anyone with home movies, photos, or memorabilia from the period 1939 to 1943 for use in the film. Please help us tell your story…
Nick Black
Producer
The Italian
American Film Project
2600
10th St. Suite 429
Berkeley,
CA 94710
Nick Black
(510) 333.6743; black@turingstudio.com
Judith
Ehrlich Bertoni (510) 843 0789; jie@paradigmproductions.org