Under Siege!: The War on Italian Americans in 1942: An Oral & Documentary History

by Stephen Fox

Outstanding Book on Human Rights in the United States - Gustavus Myers Center for the Study of Human Rights in the United States (1991)American Book Award - Outstanding Literary Achievement - Before Columbus Foundation (1992) *Between February and June 1942, the U.S. government forced thousands of West Coast Italian and German aliens from their homes at the urging of the public and their own fears. The Army drew up nonsensical and bizarre demarcation lines to remove law-abiding people who had lived in the United States for decades, some with sons in the armed forces—sons who had perished at Pearl Harbor. The government reflexively discounted the loyalty of others of Italian and German ancestry—including American citizens—and interned or excluded them after Star-Chamber hearings.Under Siege! includes interviews with dozens of Italian Americans. Those, combined with Fox's examination of government files and newspaper accounts, shine a bright light on a manufactured national security crisis that led to the use of collective punishment and challenged the government’s commitment to its libertarian ideals.Relocation, internment, and the suspension of due process in the United States in 1942 during a ‘good war’ offered a stark warning to civil libertarians everywhere.

276 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 14, 2021