Una Concezione Falsa
By: Adriyel Carrillo



The strife experienced by the Japanese in America’s interment camps were saturated in the media in the postwar era. Stories of a people who loved their country but were betrayed through stereotypes of race. However, similar situations were dug deep under the rubble that was the embarrassment of the American government. The stories of the Italians fell short of the medias voice and dissipated into history like warm breath on a winters day. Una Storia Segreta: The Secret History of Italian American Interment Is a contemplation of accounts that bring to light the all forgotten animosity and trial of Italian internment. The editor, Lawrence DiStasi, formulates the order of these accounts to reiterate the unsung struggle of the Italians and other ethnic groups interned during World War II. Lawrence DiStasi contributes many pieces throughout the book to give detail and background of the time period.
Una Storia Segreta is the secret story/history of Italian Americans that brings a new perspective to the history of wartime violations of civilian populations.Lawrence DiStasi shows how the Italian American community was targeted, and the emotional animosity of the situation.
 On December 7, 1941 was a day of great depravity, as the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor proved to be the start of dark times for the United States. Just four days Germany and Italy declared war on the United States. Lawrence Distasi spells out that the American Government’s response was to not only wage war on these countries but to distrust all decedents of those countries living in the United states.
DiStasi explains the seldom known fact that Italians immigrants and Italian Americans had been evacuated, restricted, and interned during World War II. All along the coast of California, 600,000 Italian resident aliens were subjected to the title as “enemy aliens”, along with the German and Japanese immigrant population(and through this essay that association goes without saying). 250 were imprisoned in military camps for up to two years. These “enemy aliens” were also given a 6AM to 8PM curfew and were required by wartime regulations to carry photo identity cards. Various Government agencies conducted searches of their homes and seizure of their property(guns, cameras, shortwave radios). An evacuation of an estimated 10,000 from prohibited zones along the coast. DiStasi provides a map of restricted and prohibited areas in California for the Italian population.(pg 319 for those who have the book). It shows that the prominent areas for fishing, farming, and living were restricted from the “enemy aliens” in the north east section of California. This proved to cause struggle for the immigrant population and their families.
Some Italian-American citizens were held-to-be as too dangerous to live in “strategic areas” and were forced to leave their homes and businesses. After the war's end, this unlawful act committed by the american government was completely eclipsed by the similarly reprehensible internment that the government forced upon a much greater number of Japanese-Americans.
Some accounts speak of the irony in the situation. In a confession by Ivano Comelli, he explains his fathers predicament(Pg. 115). His father was restricted from his job just meters away from their home across Pacific Coast Highway 1. Due to the restriction that resident aliens could not cross the highway or into the coast he could not work there and was forced to work at a tannery miles away.
“Italy is my mother and the United States is my father, I just don’t want to see my parents fighting.”(pg. 119 Jerre Mangione) The general feeling of Italian-Americans during World War II. Not unlike the quarrels of spouses, the children suffered. The Italian community steamed through the wartime in fear. Fear of losing everything they have gained as a community. This generation of Italians worked hard to become Americans, similar to the current situations with latin americans. Italians as a race kept their heritage but were proud to be identified as americans. Their identities by the American government proved to be short-lived. This ties in to HSPC class with the race portion.
Italians not only lost identity as americans but they lost their jobs, homes, families, businesses, and security. The sources in this book generally speak of the racism and mistreatment subjected to the Italian Americans by the policies implemented by the American Government. Nonetheless other accounts voiced the pain and emotional vie of a peoples who were feelings were ambiguous to say the least. Some Victims, instead of going through what many went through, committed suicide. One instance a seventeen year old boy hung himself on a door knob using his bed sheets. Another instance an older male jumped out his seven story apartment window. What I gathered from the book was that Italians believed that the situation was in someway their own fault and individuals put that burden on themselves. Many Individuals who fell victim to the stigma of wartime stereotypes, never spoke of it after it happened. “and so it goes, thats life.”(Pg. 195). This was the attitude that still keeps this unspoken Italian American history under the shadows of emotional baggage.
Non Piu’ Nemici! Which means “No Longer Enemies!” in Italian. On October 19 1945 the Italian communities restrictions were lifted. However with no compensation from the government for all the loss the strife still stood. Italians just wanted to forget the ordeal and move on. So It happened. I believe Lawrence DiStasi Does a great job at editing and contributing to unearth a secret history. Although DiStasi may become redundant at times it is all for good reason. He shows that this community was brought together through time against a wall of the american policy. Thorough explication of the emotion, similar situation, and repression in the “Enemy Alien” community was brought to light by DiStasi.
Una Storia Segreta: The Secret History Of Italian American Evacuation And Internment During World War II by Lawrence DiStasi revealed the little-known incident of Italian-American internments during World War II. In a collection of essays, Una Storia Segreta brings together the voices of the Italian American community and experts in the field, including personal stories by survivors and their children, accounts, and letters from internment camps.