Prisoners Among Us: Italian-American Identity & World War II

While the abysmal treatment of Japanese-Americans during World War II is well-known, the offensive mistreatment of Italian-Americans is not as familiar. Michael Angelo DiLauro's excellent documentary Prisoners Among Us, briskly narrated by Tony LoBianco, provides insight into this forgotten chapter of American ethno-politics. In December 1941, a presidential proclamation broadly turned 600,000 Italian-American emigrants into potential “enemy aliens”--even though Italian-American support for Mussolini on this side of the Atlantic was scant. No one was safe from this designation: from the lowly immigrant fishermen to world-famous opera star Ezio Pinza, numerous Italian-Americans were humiliated and detained for the sole “crime” of being Italian. DiLauro weaves a fascinating history of the Italian-American experience, from the arrival of the first large-scale immigrant wave in the late 19th century to their hard-fought battle for assimilation into mainstream American society, using archival footage, family photographs, and interviews (the section devoted to the bravery of Italian-American military personnel during World War II is especially moving). While the Italian-American community, on the whole, did not suffer the traumatic upheaval and prolonged miscarriage of justice experienced by Japanese-Americans, the state-sanctioned slur against their patriotism was nonetheless a shameful blot on the nation's wartime record. A wonderful documentary that sets the record straight with intelligence and humanity, this is highly recommended. Editor's Choice. Aud: H, C, P. (P. Hall)