To speak Italian was to be identified with the very essence of evil – Hitler.
By 1920 approximately 5 million Italians mostly from areas south of Rome had immigrated to the U.S. Life in a foreign country was difficult at first, but so was life in the Mezzogiorno and Sicily. Accordingly, being conditioned by generations of hard times, hard work and self-discipline they prevailed.
By 1940 they had achieved a fair level of prosperity. When World War II began, they did not hesitate to show their appreciation by sending their sons to war and their daughters to work in defense plants.
The list of dead and wounded Italian American men and hard working women giving their all to defend American goes on and on. Nevertheless, no matter how much blood, sweat and tears they gave to the war effort, some in the American government still had doubts about the loyalty of Italian Americans.
The outstanding collection of essays and must reading for anyone interested in the reality of Italian American history “Una Storia Segreta" edited by Lawrence DiStasi documents the indignities and injustices heaped on Italian Americans during WW II. The FBI created a list of 600,000 Italian immigrants who had not yet completed their citizenship. Ten thousand were arrested and sent to an interment camp in Montana. Curfews were imposed on thousands. Milkmen and bakers lost their jobs because they could not leave their house before sunrise. Fishermen lost their jobs because they were not allowed within five miles of the sea coast. Homes were routinely searched. But, the greatest insult of all was the attack on the Italian language itself.
Posters like the one above declaring "Don't Speak The Enemy's Language! Speak American!" appeared. The implication of the graphic: to speak Italian was not simply to be identified with Mussolini but more importantly with the very essence of evil – Hitler. Again, Italian Americas showed there loyalty to America and willingness to comply. Clement Lanni publisher of the Rochester NY Italian language newspaper ‘La Stamp Unita’ for decades changed the name of the paper to ‘The Rochester Press’ and the language to English. All across the country immigrants stopped using Italian in public. But, the final act of loyalty to America and the death of Italian language in America came from the children of the immigrants. Coming back from the war and out of the war factories they began rising their own families - the so called “Post War Baby Boom.” Although they were fluent speakers of Italian, they refused to teach it to their children. By the 1960’s the Italian language in America was dead. It was not spoken in the homes or taught in the schools.
Fortunately, today there is a Renaissance of the Italian language in America. Once again schools and organizations are teaching it and parents are encouraging there children to learn Italian and study Italian history. Once again, as it was before WW II, Italian Americans are proud of their heritage. They realize loving Italian culture does not mean being un-American.