Historical Inspiration

Many years ago, Ms. Speranza heard a friend’s story about his parents: an Italian prisoner of war and a French Quarter Sicilian woman who met during World War II in New Orleans. Fascinated by this hidden chapter in history, she became determined to find out more. In the course of her investigation, she connected with scholars, researchers, and others who’ve been piecing together the little-known stories of some of the 51,000 Italian POWs held in the US from 1943-1945, 1,000 of whom were held at Jackson Barracks in New Orleans’ Lower Ninth Ward. Working with Sal Serio, Curator of the American Italian Library, and Linda DiMarzio Massicot, the daughter of one of the Jackson Barracks POWs, Ms. Speranza started a treasure hunt for information, artifacts, and people. Together, they identified ten local families who had descended from the Jackson Barracks POWs and the local Sicilian-American women they met and married. Find out more about the historical backstory here, and through these links.

“Operation Torch,” a critical WWII campaign, began in North Africa in November 1942 and ended with an Allied victory in May 1943. After the fighting ceased, British and US forces transported captured German and Italian prisoners of war to camps around the world. The Americans brought 380,000 Germans and 51,000 Italian POWs to the US. Italy surrendered and switched sides in September of 1943. The Italian POWs were no longer “enemy combatants,” but couldn’t be sent home either, according to the Geneva Convention. Given the severe shortage of workers, the US Army offered the Italian POWs a chance to serve in “Italian Service Units” in March of 1944. Almost all of them signed up.

About 1,000 Italians were housed at Jackson Barracks in New Orleans until they were sent home in December of 1945. Many people are surprised to learn there was a sizable population of Sicilian immigrants in New Orleans’ French Quarter in the first half of the 20th century. In fact, the Mayor of New Orleans at the time was Sicilian-American Robert Maestri. Along with other cities that had thriving Italian-American neighborhoods (such as Boston), New Orleans’ Sicilian community adopted the Italian POWs–partly to help support the war effort and prove their patriotism, and partly out of compassion for their countrymen. The young women of “Little Palermo” found friends and dance partners, and many of them found husbands. Please visit the Blog section of this website to find out more about these unique American love stories.

The Jackson Barracks POW Families

Lorenzo Nuzzolillo married Eleanor “Noni” Battaglia

Eugenio Chierici married Concetta “Tini” Battaglia

Lorenzo Giancontieri married Marianna “Annie” Battaglia

Giovanni DiStefano married Vergie Battaglia

Giuseppe Faroldi married Felicia D’Anna

Loreto DiGregorio married Mamie Lore

Mario Maranto married Marguerite Graffagnini

Antonio Pezzana married Mary Messina

Ermanno DiMarzio married Dorothy Messina

Giovanni Manfrin (Camp Plauche) married Anna Mae Cassesi