B is for Governor candidate Jim Weir

"Larry Dighera" wrote in message
news

Many folks are not aware that during WW-II citizens of Australia of
German and Italian descent were also similarly "caged" in that country
in addition to those of Japanese descent. Given that fact, it's
difficult to see racial features as a basis.


Many folks are also not aware that during WWII US citizens of German and
Italian descent were also similarly "caged" in this country.

On Thu, 14 Aug 2003 17:03:30 GMT, "Steven P. McNicoll"
wrote in Message-Id:
. net:


"Larry Dighera" wrote in message
news

Many folks are not aware that during WW-II citizens of Australia of
German and Italian descent were also similarly "caged" in that country
in addition to those of Japanese descent. Given that fact, it's
difficult to see racial features as a basis.


Many folks are also not aware that during WWII US citizens of German and
Italian descent were also similarly "caged" in this country.


Yours is the first mention of that, that I have heard. Thanks for the
information.

http://vikingphoenix.com/public/Japa...6/9066it-1.htm
http://vikingphoenix.com/public/Japa...066/eo9066.htm
http://www.foitimes.com/internment/
http://members.cox.net/adjacobs/

http://66.218.71.225/search/cache?p=...an.relocation/
'Secret' of WWII: Italian-Americans forced to move

Were branded 'enemy aliens'
September 21, 1997
Web posted at: 7:53 p.m. EDT (2353 GMT)
SAN FRANCISCO (CNN) -- More than 50 years after World War II,
there is one incident from that era that remains in the shadows --
the forced relocation of some U.S. residents of Italian ancestry
from their homes.

Now, some Italian-Americans believe the federal government needs
to own up to that history. A bill introduced in Congress would
force the government to disclose all that it knows about the
episode.

"We're not asking for monetary compensation," says Rose Scudero,
who was 12 when she and her mother, who was an Italian citizen,
were forced to leave their home. "We want it documented. We want
the government to acknowledge it happened."

In the hysteria that accompanied the outbreak of World War II,
many Japanese citizens on the West Coast were forced into
internment camps, an episode for which the government has
apologized and paid compensation to survivors.

But the United States was also at war with Mussolini's Italy, and
Italian-Americans also were branded "enemy aliens" and told to
move out of certain areas. Even the fisherman father of baseball
great Joe DiMaggio, who had a 56-game hitting streak in 1941, was
told he could not fish San Francisco Bay or visit the city.

Italians relocation
In Pittsburg, California, 2,000 Italians were told to leave. Many
were fishermen, and their boats were confiscated.

"Some of them lost their homes. They had no way of making a
living, and so a lot of the things they had, they lost," says Pat
Firpo of the Pittsburg Historical Society.

"They didn't fully explain to these people why they did this,"
says Scudero. "They felt they had done something wrong. They felt
so guilty."

Because housing was scare in wartime, many of those who were
dislocated had difficulty finding somewhere to live. One woman
even took up residence in a chicken coop.

At the same time, the sons of these so-called "enemy aliens" went
off to fight for the United States.

Bringing attention to what happened during this episode is an
exhibit of photographs and artifacts, called "The Secret Story."
It has been traveling around the country since 1994 and is
scheduled to open in Washington, D.C., next week.

Also, two books have been written, compiling oral tales of the
plight of the dislocated Italian-Americans. But five decades after
the fact, there are still no official historical accounts of the
episode.

Most of those forced to leave are no longer alive. Now, their sons
and daughters are trying to make sure that what their parents
endured is not forgotten.





http://www.upublish.com/books/jacobs.htm
Unknown to most Americans, more than 10,000 Germans and German
Americans were interned in the United States during WWII. This
story is about the internment of a young American and his family.
He was born in the U.S.A. and the story tells of his perilous path
from his home in Brooklyn to internment at Ellis Island, N.Y. and
Crystal City, Texas, and imprisonment, after the war, at a place
in Germany called Hohenasperg.

When he arrived in Germany in the dead of winter, he was
transported to Hohenasperg in a frigid, stench-filled, locked, and
heavily guarded, boxcar. Once in Hohenasperg, he was separated
from his family and put in a prison cell. He was only twelve years
old! He was treated like a Nazi by the U.S. Army guards and was
told that if he didn't behave he would be killed. He tried to tell
them he was an American, but they just told him to shut up. His
fellow inmates included high-ranking officers of the Third Reich
who were being held for interrogation and denazification.


--

Irrational beliefs ultimately lead to irrational acts.
-- Larry Dighera,