War and Ethnicity

During World War II, a significant number of soldiers of Italian descent fought within the national armies of a few Allied nations. Many belonged to families of immigrants, who left Italy between the 1880s and early 1900s. Others, instead, were born in Italy and later emigrated between WWI and WWII in search of new economic opportunities; or forced to leave because of Fascist persecutions.

After Italy entered WWII with the Axis Powers in June 1940, Italian communities in the Allied nations were suspected of a lack of loyalty. This by virtue of their former closeness and endorsement of the Fascist regime led by dictator Benito Mussolini. Labelled as potential enemies, many immigrants were deprived of their civil rights, whereas those who were considered dangerous to national security were interned in special camps.

Despite being labelled as threats to national security, the enlistment (often voluntary) of many youths of Italian descent, who were called to fight the Axis powers in all war theaters, in the ranks of the Allied military enriches and partially balances the whole view of Italians’ role abroad in the period between WWI and WWII.

In the picture: Italian-Australian soldier Francesco Circosta (Italian Historical Society, Melbourne). On the cover slide: photograph of Enrico & Olindo Sauro in military uniform. Date unknown (Courtesy of the family of Libero and Clementina Sauro via Columbus Centre of Toronto, Canada, www.italiancanadianww2.ca, DICEA2011.0025.0007)

Despite its reactionary nature, Fascism was embraced by many Italians who lived outside of Italy. Through his nationalism emphasizing the supposed greatness of the “Italian Genius” in the world, Il Duce appealed to immigrants who were often labelled, especially in Anglo-Saxon countries, with degrading stereotypes regarding their violent and criminal nature. Behind Rome's urging, Italian communities split between pro- and anti-Fascist. Those having pro-Mussolini orientation were not characterized ideologically; rather, their appreciation of Il Duce was framed in a sort of nostalgic nationalism that identified Mussolini as a redeemer of the motherland. The peak of such a consensus was reached during the Italian invasion of Ethiopia followed by the proclamation of the empire by Mussolini (9 May 1936). Among those who fought in Ethiopia was a group of Italian volunteers from abroad that enlisted in the Legion Parini of the fasci italiani all'estero. In the picture: Italians abroad in the Legion Parini during the war in Ethiopia (Galeazzo Ciano, "Italiani d'Oltr'Alpi e d'Oltremare", ed. Celso Maria Garatti, Bologna: Linicio Cappelli, 1937).

On 10 June 1940, Fascist Italy joined the war with Nazi Germany against France and the United Kingdom. On 11 December 1941, Mussolini also declared war on the United States. Therefore, the Fascists chose to line up against Allied nations so largely inhabited by people of Italian descent. The warfare between the land of ancestors and the countries of immigration made life difficult for many Italians outside of Italy. Already before the war’s outbreak, Italian communities had been subjected to close surveillance in search of Mussolini’s agents. Those believed to be dangerous to national security were catalogued in order to be arrested in the event of a conflict. In the picture: Il Giornale Italo-Canadese, Montreal, 1 August 1940.

Despite being perceived as enemies, Italians residing in Allied countries reacted by showing loyalty to the nations that they had chosen as their adoptive countries. Their patriotism was expressed through the rejection of all past ties to fascism. Many ethnic newspapers and associations – especially in the United States – were particularly active in promoting the purchase of war bonds to support the Allies' war efforts. The patriotic attitude of Italian Americans was so great that on 12 October 1942, Columbus Day, the US authorities lifted the status of "enemy aliens" that had been attached to Italian citizens. The general lack of acts of sabotage by Italian immigrants eased tensions towards them. Developments in the war following the fall of the fascist regime in July 1943 and the signing of the Armistice in September also contributed to easing tensions. These events allowed Italy to side with the Allies as a co-belligerent. The Armistice also facilitated the release of the detainees in Britain. Moreover, as the fear of a Japanese invasion dissipated in Australia, the pressure on Italians alleviated and detainees were gradually released. In September 1944, just 135 diehard fascists remained in the country's detainment camps. Pictured: appeal to purchase war bonds ("Il Progresso Italo-Americano", New York, 17 April 1942). In the picture: Appeal to purchase War Bonds (Il Progresso Italo-Americano, New York, 17 April 1942).

The outbreak of war led thousands of people of Italian origin to join the Allied armies to defend their adoptive nation. The presence of Americans of Italian ethnicity among US troops was colossal, estimated by various sources to be between 500,000 and 1,500,000 units. However, the figure reported by Congressman Harold D. Donohue also seems plausible, according to which the number of soldiers of Italian origin during the Second World War was 850,000, including 40,000 in Italy. In some areas with strong Italian immigration, there was a predominant presence of Italian-American soldiers. For example, the "Newark Star Ledge" estimated that 65% of conscripts from Essex County in New Jersey had Italian roots. Whereas, as many as 75,000 were fighters from families whose members had been labelled as "enemy aliens". Pictured: document from the Italian Embassy in Washington (Historical-Diplomatic Archive of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Rome)

Allied soldiers of Italian origin were used on all fronts worldwide against the Axis powers, from the Pacific, to North Africa, to the heart of Europe. Among Italian Americans in particular, some were killed on 7 December 1941 during the Japanese attack on the American fleet stationed at Pearl Harbor (on the Hawaiian Islands), whilst others shed their blood in Normandy in 1944, paving the way, in part, for the occupation of Germany. Pictured: Albert F. Pishioneri, Italian-American soldier during his training (Albert F. Pishioneri, "Me, Mom, and World War II", Bloomington, Author House 2008)

The occupation of the territory of North Africa by the Allied armed forces was the harbinger of the subsequent landing in Sicily. It was then that the soldiers of the Royal Italian Army and British-American forces of Italian origin faced each other for the first time on two opposing sides. It was sometimes the case that Italian soldiers, captured in North Africa by British and American troops, were taken as prisoners to the United States, where they had the chance to be visited by relatives who had emigrated overseas. Pictured: the Italian-American soldier Patti on the African front ("Il Progresso Italo-Americano", New York, 29 March 1943)

In September 1943, following the fall of the fascist regime and the Allied invasion of Sicily, the new Italian government headed by General Pietro Badoglio signed the Armistice with the Allies. This would be the beginning of the Italian campaign to liberate the country from Nazi-Fascist occupation.

Of the Allied soldiers of Italian origin who fought against the Axis powers, some served in Italy, especially Italian Americans, Italian Canadians and Italian Brazilians. Being at war in the country of their ancestors provoked different reactions. Some of them feared being forced to fight against family and friends. This was the case with Antonio (Tony) Basciano, an Italian Canadian serving on the Italian front who had a brother enlisted in the Italian army. Some Italian-American airmen, such as Frank Bartolomei – whose parents had emigrated from Maresca (Pistoia) to Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania – tried to avoid taking part in aerial missions where they had been commanded to bomb their countries of origin. Others still, aware of their responsibility to contribute to the Allies' war efforts against Italian and German fascism, had no qualms about fighting in Italy. Yet, for most of those who served in Europe in the uniforms of the Allied armies, encountering Italy and the Italian people was an extremely intense experience. Pictured: the flags of the United States and Italy enshrine the Armistice of Cassibile on 8 September 1943 ("Illustrated Magazine Il Progresso Italo-Americano", New York, 12 September 1943)

During the Italian campaign, many soldiers of Italian origin visited the towns of their parents and grandparents, some for the first time. Here they had the opportunity to meet relatives. Strong ties were created with the Italian population, as in the case of the Italian-Brazilian Miguel Garófalo. Some even found love, like the Italian-American soldier Mario Piccirilli, who met his future wife, Marisa Petrucci, in Livorno. While some of these soldiers returned to their countries of adoption, sometimes with medals for bravery, others met with death in their land of origin. Dozens of fighters of Italian origin are buried in the American military cemeteries of Nettuno and Florence. In addition, Canadian soldiers are commemorated in Commonwealth cemeteries scattered throughout the Italian territory, and Brazilian soldiers at the Votive Brazilian Military Monument in Pistoia.

Pictured: the Italian-American soldier Nick Santarelli in Sicily ("Illustrated Magazine Il Progresso Italo-Americano", New York, August 15, 1943)

Allied soldiers of Italian origin contributed to the liberation of the European continent and the occupation of Germany. Some participated in the Normandy landings of June 6, 1944, took part in air raids on German cities, and fought on other European battlefields. Still others, like the Italian-American soldier Nick Mustacchio (author of "Prisoner of War and Peace", Raleigh, Pentland Press, 1999) experienced imprisonment in detention camps in Germany. Pictured: the Italian-Canadian Ernesto Marchese, who fought at the Battle of Dieppe in France ("Victory", Toronto, November 7, 1942).

After the end of World War II, a new and lasting culture of peace developed, including through the elaboration of a public memory of the war and its tragedies. In Italy, the memory of the presence of Allied troops resides mainly in the dozens of Commonwealth cemeteries scattered throughout the country, in the Brazilian Military Cemetery of Pistoia, as well as in two large American Cemeteries in Florence and Nettuno. The hundreds of graves of soldiers whose names indicate an Italian origin stand as a testimony to the struggle against fascism. In the decades following the war, these cemeteries were a pilgrimage site for thousands of veterans of the Allied armies, including those of Italian origin who, in so doing, paid tribute once again to the land of their ancestors. Pictured: the Florence American Cemetery (American Battle Monument Commission - www.abmc.gov)

There are dozens of memoirs or interviews of Allied soldiers of Italian descent, especially Italian-Americans, that recount dramatic events of the war and their willingness to leave behind these tragedies in order to promote a culture of peace. In the picture, the memories of imprisonment by Italian-American soldier Anthony N. Iannarelli ("The Eighty Thieves: American P.O.W.s in World War II Japan," San Diego: Patriot Press, 1991).

Hollywood, too, has contributed to the remembrance of Allied soldiers of Italian origin. These combatants are present in films like "From Here to Eternity" (Fred Zinnemann, 1953), winner of eight Academy Awards, in which Frank Sinatra plays the soldier Angelo Maggio. Other war epics include "Saving Private Ryan" (Steven Spielberg, 1998) and television miniseries "The Pacific" and "Band of Brothers", produced for HBO by director Steven Spielberg and actor Tom Hanks. Italian cinema also commemorates the presence in Italy of combatants of Italian origin in the Allied armies. This is the case with Roberto Rossellini's masterpiece "Paisan" (1946) and "The Night of Shooting Stars" (Paolo and Vittorio Taviani, 1982). Pictured: American soldiers in Sicily "Illustrated Magazine Il Progresso Italo-Americano", New York, August 29, 1943). American and Italian documentary films have also addressed the subject. In particular, "5,000 Miles from Home: The Untold Story of Chicago's Italian Americans and World War II"(2009) recounts the war experience of soldiers from Chicago of Italian origin. "Fighting Paisanos" (2013) by director Marco Curti, narrates the experiences in Italy of four American soldiers of Italian ethnicity.

Hollywood also paid tribute to the famous Italian-American soldier Louis Zamperini, whose story is told in the film "Unbroken" (Angelina Jolie, 2014), inspired by the book by Laura Hillenbrand, "Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience and Redemption". (Italian edition, Milan, Mondadori 2012). A sprinter at the Berlin Olympics in 1932, Zamperini served in the US Air Force. After a plane crash in the Pacific, he survived at sea for weeks before being taken prisoner by the Japanese. Interned in Japanese territory, he was subjected to incredible harassment by his captors. After the war, Zamperini became a symbol of reconciliation with former enemies, having publicly forgiven his captors. In a sign of reconciliation, at the age of eighty he carried the Olympic torch for the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan. Pictured: Lou Zamperini promoted to Lieutenant Aviator ("Illustrated Magazine Il Progresso Italo-Americano", New York, August 23 1942)