Sunday,
November 25,
''Pilgrims of War'' Italians on Cruise Ship
Interred When US Declares War on
The
ANNOTICO Report
Carl
Veno of
Veno's research revealed 40 or 50 American camps that held Germans
aliens during the war. He read accounts describing a case of an actual Italian
cruise ship that was seized by the American Navy. The nightmare that followed
for many of the families aboard became the source for the tale of Dr. Russo.
The doctor is on a pleasure cruise sipping drinks and resisting the flirtations
of the captain when suddenly US naval officers come aboard and start asking
questions of the Italian passengers. She is guilty of no crime but is treated
like a criminal. She is separated from her family and forced to spy for the
Americans. She is held in a barracks under confinement, like thousands of
Italians and Germans actually were at that time.
Veno says that one of the chapters in his previous book, 2005's
''Invisible Ink,'' discussed the internment of Germans and Italians in the
''It's
probably one of the best kept secrets in
The
reasons is that all Documents relative to the Internments were Classified
"Secret", and the Japanese petitioned almost immediately after the
end of WWI for the release of Documents regarding the Japanese Internment I, in
part to elicit some sympathy to deflect the "negativity" of the
Japanese "sneak attack" and the Japanese Army "atrocities",
where the Italians and Germans felt "shamed" by
having their "patriotism" questioned, and didn't petition for the
release of the "Secret" Documents until the 1990s.
Further,
while the Japanese attempt to maximize their "sympathy"
factor, they seldom ever mention the internment of Germans and Italians. This
despite 600,000 Italian Americans, 300,000 German Americans ,
and only 120,000 Japanese Americans were forced to register as
"Enemy Aliens", and suffer the numerous Restrictions, Relocations,
Confiscations, Internments etc, that went with it.
By Josh Berk
Special to The Morning Call
November 25, 2007
Carl Veno
of
Veno says that one of the chapters in his previous
book, 2005's ''Invisible Ink,'' discussed the internment of Germans and
Italians in the
''A lot of people are not aware that German and Italians w ere interned in this
country,'' Veno says. ''In 1942, the Germans seemed
unstoppable and a lot of Americans were nervous. They started searching for
people who would harm this country. We were not even at war yet, but the Germans,
Italians and Japanese became our enemies.''
The federal government began rounding up aliens of German and Italian descent, Veno explains. These immigrants were in the country legally
but had not become citizens. ''They were yanked from their homes with no
trials, and no hearings,'' Veno says. ''They started
sending them to Army camps.''
Veno's research revealed 40 or 50 American camps that
held Germans aliens during the war. He read accounts describing a case of an
actual Italian cruise ship that was seized by the American Navy. The nightmare
that followed for many of the families aboard became the source for the tale of
Dr. Russo.
The doctor is on a pleasure cruise sipping drinks and resisting the flirtations
of the captain wh en
suddenly naval officers come aboard and start asking questions of the Italian
passengers. She is guilty of no crime but is treated like a criminal. She is
separated from her family and forced to spy for the Americans. She is held in a
barracks under confinement, Veno says, like thousands
of Italians and Germans actually were at that time.
''It's probably one of the best kept secrets in
''It's a fast read. A lot of people aren't reading as much and they're afraid
of long books, so I shortened the novel up quite a bit.''
Veno is currently producing a film, ''Little
Chicago,'' based on another chapter in ''Invisible Ink.'' It's a
prohibition-era tale that takes place in Veno's
native region of western
''It gives us a sense of how we react,'' Veno says of
studying World War II. ''And it is happening t oday.
You look at a Muslim, you look at them and we start wondering. But they're not
different than anybody else. I think that applies to the human race. Until we
understand that, just because there are certain people who do things, it
doesn't mean everybody does that. And we're definitely like that in
''During war we become very, very different people,'' he says. ''And we do a
lot of crazy things.''
Josh Berk is a freelance writer.
Jodi Duckett, Arts and
Entertainment Editor, jodi.duckett@mcall.com
http://www.mcall.com/entertainment/all-carlveno.6148011nov25,0,525574.story
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