L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, AUGUST 10, 2023 www.italoamericano.org 14 L'Italo-Americano LA VITA ITALIANA TRADITIONS HISTORY CULTURE D e a r r e a d e r s , T h e I t a l i a n - A m e r i c a n - U S i n t e r n - m e n t w a s a quasi-secret. In 1993, at a conference sponsored by the American-Italian Historical Association's Western Regio- n a l C h a p t e r , U n a S t o r i a Segreta had its inception. D u r i n g t h a t h a l f a d a y , a panel of speakers for the first time bore public witness to how the wartime restrictions had marked their lives. No o n e c o u l d h e a r w h a t h a d happened to Italian Ameri- c a n s i n t h o s e d a r k d a y s w i t h o u t r e a l i z i n g t h a t f a r more remained to be told. The question was, how? At the close of the conference, Maria Gloria, one of the par- ticipants, and your Italian Connection, passed a thou- ght: why not do an exhibit? Had any of us at the Ame- r i c a n H i s t o r i c a l A s s o c i a - t i o n ' s W e s t e r n R e g i o n a l Chapter suspected what this would entail, or where it m i g h t l e a d , U n a S t o r i a Segreta might have been stillborn. As it was, innocen- ce prevailed, and we set out to try with project director, Lorenzo DiStasi, curator Dr. Rose Scherini, and project c o o r d i n a t o r A d e l e N e g r o leading the way. The exhibit o p e n e d a t t h e M u s e o Italo-Americano in San Francisco on February 24, 1994, the anniversary of the f a t e f u l d a y i n 1 9 4 2 w h e n thousands of Italian-Ameri- cans in California had to evacuate homes and lives suddenly off-limits to them. The press responded to the exhibit in an unprecedented way: cover stories appeared in the San Francisco Exami- ner and in several Gannett newspapers, and a report on C N N w a s b r o a d c a s t worldwide. Crowds at the Museo were among the lar- gest ever recorded there. *** Australians of Italian origin were interned in late 1941 and 1942, and like their A m e r i c a n c o u n t e r p a r t s , many of them rarely spoke publicly about those dark days. While looking at the book The Story of Italian Migration - Per l'Australia, a bilingual book by Julia C h u r c h p u b l i s h e d b y t h e Melbourne University Press, I chanced upon a chapter on the Italo- Australian intern- ment and thought I would share it with you. T h e I t a l i a n H i s t o r i c a l Society - Per l'Australia is the story of Italian settle- ment from as early as 1788 through World War II and b e y o n d . T h e f i r s t I t a l i a n c a n e c u t t e r s a r r i v e d i n N o r t h Q u e e n s l a n d i n t h e m i d - 1 8 0 0 s , a n d b y t h e 1 9 2 0 s , a t h i r d o f Q u e e n - sland's cane farms were Ita- lian-owned and employed Italian cane cutters. Australia had been at war since June 10, 1940. Italy declared war on Britain and prompted a roundup of Ita- lian nationals in Australia in all states by the next mor- ning. Announcing the deci- sion to intern Italian natio- n a l s , t h e P r i m e M i n i s t e r d e c l a r e d t h a t t h e p u b l i c might rest assured those not p r e p a r e d t o b e l o y a l t o Australia would be deprived o f t h e m e a n s o f b e i n g disloyal. Of the 4,723 people interned, 1,196 came from W e s t e r n A u s t r a l i a , 2 , 2 1 6 from Queensland, 855 from New South Wales, 171 from South Australia, 170 from Victoria, 65 from Tasmania, and 50 from the Northern Territory. Over a thousand w e r e A u s t r a l i a n - b o r n o r naturalized British subjects. The largest number of inter- nees came from industries where Italians dominated: sugarcane in North Queen- s l a n d a n d m i n i n g a n d fishing in Western Australia. There was a fear that, in the event of a Japanese inva- sion, enemy aliens living in the remote west of Australia might become collaborators. Victoria, despite being home to what was probably the largest Italian community in the country, had relatively few internees. This may be in part explained by the very special protection the Italian Victorians enjoyed from two eminent Catholics, the Irish- A u s t r a l i a n A r c h b i s h o p D a n i e l M a n n i x a n d h i s Advancing our Legacy: Italian Community Services CASA FUGAZI If you know of any senior of Italian descent in San Francisco needing assistance, please contact: ItalianCS.org | (415) 362-6423 | info@italiancs.com Italian Community Services continues to assist Bay Area Italian-American seniors and their families navigate and manage the resources needed to live healthy, independent and productive lives. Since Shelter-in-Place began in San Francisco, Italian Community Services has delivered over 240 meals, over 900 care packages and made over 2000 phone wellness checks for our seniors. f r i e n d , L a b o u r p o l i t i c i a n Arthur Caldwell. While a small number were fascist sympathizers, the majority of Italian interned had little or no interest in politics and d i d n o t p o s e a t h r e a t t o national security. Italians also had restric- tions. Under national secu- rity regulations, limitations were introduced on employ- ment, travel, and the sale or transfer of property. Enemy aliens were not allowed to own carrier pigeons, radios, cameras, cars, planes, boats, or petrol. Italian businesses suffe- r e d , a s f a r m s a n d p l a n t machinery could be confi- scated or disabled. Langua- ges other than English could not be spoken in public pla- ces or on the phone. Social life came to a halt: clubs w e r e c l o s e d d o w n , t r a v e l without a permit was forbid- den, as was congregating in t h e s t r e e t o r i n h o m e s . Enemy aliens had no citi- zenship rights, so they could n o t t u r n f o r p r o t e c t i o n e i t h e r t o A u s t r a l i a o r t o Italy. They became stateless people. Shops were vandalized, so many Italian businesses removed any reference to the word "Italian" and put up signs declaring the pro- prietor of this business was a British subject. One exam- p l e f o r a l l , t h a t o f T o s c a restaurant in Melbourne: in 1941, with anti-Italian senti- m e n t r u n n i n g h i g h , i t s owner Nello Borghesi remo- ved all references to his ori- gins and changed the name of the business to "Hoddle Café."

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