Sunday,
October 08, 2006
When Italians Lost Their Rights During World War II: "Una Storia Segreta"
The
ANNOTICO Report
Executive
Order 1066, [issued
by Franklin Roosevelt on February 19, 1942].in conjunction with the Enemy Alien Act affected
600,00 Italian Americans, 300,000 German Americans,
and 120,000 Japanese Americans.
This
resulted in Confiscation of Property, Travel Restrictions, Curfews,
Relocations, Jailings, Internments, etc. In
some cases, authorities detained Italians whose sons were serving in World War
II.
For
the Italians, the three basic profiles on an FBI-compiled list of potentially
"dangerous" foreign residents were: people who worked for an
Italian-language newspaper or radio station; teachers of Italian in a school
sponsored by the Italian consulate; or members of the Federation of Italian War
Veterans, a social group for those who had fought in the Italian military in
World War I as U.S. allies.
The
traveling Exhibit "Una Storia
Segreta: The Secret History of Italian American
Evacuation and Internment During World War II." documenting those events,
was first shown in 1994 at the Museo Italo-Americano in
WHEN
ITALIANS LOST THEIR RIGHTS
Thursday, October 5, 2006
His
topic will be "Una Storia
Segreta: When Italian Americans Were Enemy
Aliens."
The
talk will be in the Nelly Goletti Theatre, in the
The
event is free and open to the public. A reception will follow.
DiStasi is the project director of the traveling exhibit "Una Storia Segreta"
("A Secret Story/History"), a photographic exhibition that will be
displayed on the first floor of the college's Fontaine Hall through Oct. 30.
Fontaine Hall is open from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily.
A
"secret history"
DiStasi is the editor of the scholarly collection of essays "Una Storia Segreta:
The Secret History of Italian American Evacuation and Internment During World War II." The exhibit, documenting those
events, was first shown in 1994 at the Museo Italo-Americano in
DiStasi is also the author of "Mal Occhio:
The Underside of Vision and Dream Streets: The Big Book of Italian American
Culture."
At 11
p.m. on Dec. 7, 1941, a man in bedroom slippers answered his door. Three
policemen were out front, another two around back. The man was told, by order
of the President of the
He was
not allowed to put on shoes and was escorted to jail. He was not allowed to
contact his family, could not consult an attorney, and was never told the
specific charges against him, or even what evidence, if any, made him a
possible threat to national security.
After
a brief hearing, he was quickly put on a train and shipped to
Worked
for newspaper
The
suspect was Filippo Molinari, a sales representative
for L'Italia newspaper in
For
information: Rose De Angelis, associate professor of English, director of the
Marist College Honors Program: 845-575-3000 ext. 2316.
The
ANNOTICO Reports
Can
be Viewed, and are Archived at:
Italia
Italia Mia: http://www.ItaliaMia.com
Annotico
Email: annotico@earthlink.net