Italian-American internment
The Italian-American internment refers to the forced relocation and detention of Italian citizens and Italian Americans in the United States during World War II. Following Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, U.S. government officials developed a heightened suspicion of immigrants from Axis nations, which included Italy. As a result, over 3,000 Italians were interned in camps, while approximately 600,000 were categorized as "enemy aliens" and subjected to restrictions on their movement and activities.
The internment was part of a broader Enemy Alien Control Program that allowed for the investigation and detention of individuals deemed suspicious. Although the initial wave of arrests predominantly targeted Japanese and German individuals, many Italians faced similar fates as the war progressed. Interned individuals were kept in camps surrounded by barbed wire, often separated from their families, and their properties were confiscated.
Most Italian internees remained in these camps for around two years, with many being released following Italy's surrender in September 1943. Despite their experiences, the stories of Italian-American internment are less widely recognized compared to those of Japanese and German internment, largely due to the reluctance of survivors to discuss their experiences, which they often perceived as shameful. Recent efforts have aimed to document these stories to preserve this chapter of American history.
Italian-American internment
The Italian-American Internment refers to a time during World War II when Italian citizens in the United States were forced to live in internment camps. More than 3,000 Italian citizens were imprisoned in these camps and another 600,000 were forced to register as "enemy aliens."
When the United States entered World War II after Japan attacked the American naval base at Pearl Harbor, government officials became paranoid about foreigners living on American soil. They worried about immigrants and the descendants of immigrants from the Axis powers, namely
Germany, Japan, and Italy. As suspicion rose, many foreigners living in America, naturalized American citizens, and the children of foreigners born in the United States (automatically making them citizens) were forced to move away from coastlines and any militarily-important areas. Soon after, many were arrested and forced to live in camps, so they would be unable to spy for enemy nations.
Overview
On December 7, 1941, Japan launched a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, an American naval base in Hawaii. At the time, America was not involved in World War II. Japan declared war on the United States immediately before attacking with a naval fleet, which it had already secretly brought into position. In a single two-hour attack, the Japanese force sunk or crippled 21 American ships, destroyed 188 aircraft, and damaged 159 more. The casualties were high—2,403 Americans died in the attack. Americans were, understandably, shocked and angry. In a reactionary move to ensure that nothing like the attack on Pearl Harbor would happen again, President Franklin D. Roosevelt sponsored Presidential Proclamations 2525, 2526, and 2527. These documents initiated the Enemy Alien Control Program, which made it legal for American government agencies to investigate, relocate, and indefinitely detain suspicious aliens living in the United States.
Presidential Proclamation 2527 was specifically directed toward Italians living in American territory while the other two proclamations were directed toward German-American internment and Japanese-American internment. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) already had profiles of influential foreigners living in America, and many were quickly arrested. However, this first wave of arrests primarily targeted Germans and Japanese, not Italians.
While a few Italians were targeted during the initial arrests, most were given a curfew and restricted freedom of movement or were simply interrogated. However, once the United States dedicated almost one-third of the country as a militarized zone, it became illegal for anyone on the government's enemy citizen list to live there. Much of the West Coast resided in this area, including entire communities of Italian immigrants and their descendants. Many had nowhere to go and were forced to leave with little or no notice.
After a short time, more and more Italians, Italian Americans, and descendants of Italian Americans whom the government deemed had taken part in suspicious activities were interned. In this case, interned means arrested and forcibly moved to an internment camp, which was the same as a prisoner-of-war camp. Prisoners stayed behind barbed-wire fences in camps organized around a few central buildings. Other than with teachers brought in for schools, most prisoners had no contact with those outside the camps. Prisoners stayed in barracks, and families were sometimes separated. Prisoners could occasionally work in low-paying jobs, such as cooks, to save money for their eventual release. Earning money was especially important to non-citizens because all their property had been confiscated prior to their arrest.
In addition to the Italian American and Italian prisoners kept in American internment camps, hundreds of Latin Americans and South Americans were imprisoned on American soil. The American government offered to intern any suspicious individuals of German, Japanese, or Italian ancestry from other countries in the Americas, and many nations accepted the offer. Large numbers of these people were given no notice, trial, or reason why they were being deported to America, many for no other reason than having Italian ancestry. Furthermore, several countries took the offer as an easy excuse to deport difficult citizens and political rebels.
Most Italians arrested during the war spent about two years in camps. Most were released when the Italian government surrendered to the Allied powers in September of 1943. Some had been paroled beforehand after secondary internment hearings. Final statistics show that throughout World War II, 3,278 Italians were interned in camps, including more than 200 deported from Latin American countries. Non-interned Italian Americans also faced various discriminatory laws, including forced confiscation of weapons and short-wave radios, curfews, and travel restrictions, with internment as a potential penalty for violations. While those interned had a chance to appeal in court, they were not allowed lawyers or even to view the evidence against them.
While the internment of Italian-American citizens, immigrants, and the descendants of immigrants happened alongside that of Japanese Americans and German Americans, far fewer people know about it. This is partly because fewer Italians Americans were interned than their Japanese and German counterparts and also because of the survivors themselves. Descendants of those interned have said that their parents and grandparents who were interned refused to discuss the experience. They viewed it as shameful and wanted to keep that period of their life secret and forget it. Almost none called for reparations like the interned Japanese, and many passed away before their stories were ever known. Many families found out about the internment after their relatives' deaths. Because of this, recent efforts have been made to seek out survivors and convince them to record their stories, either through writing or recording, so that this period of American history is not forgotten.
Tyler J. Biscontini
Bibliography
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Fox, Stephen. "World War II Internment, America's Hidden History." Humboldt State University. Humboldt State University. Web. 24 Sept. 2014. http://users.humboldt.edu/stephenf/faq.htm
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National Archives. "Brief Overview of the World War II Enemy Alien Control Program." National Archives. United States of America. Web. 24 Sept. 2104. http://www.archives.gov/research/immigration/enemy-aliens-overview.html