German-Americans and Italian-Americans During World War Two: Congress Might Have Enacted Reparations

Michael Streich

In October 2003, U.S. Senators Feingold, Grassley, Kennedy, and Lieberman submitted Senate Bill 1691, The Wartime Treatment Study Act. First introduced in 2001, the bill has been cleared for adoption five times yet has never been voted on by the full Congress due to opposition from some Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee. The bill addresses the World War II incarceration of thousands of German-Americans and Italian-Americans, many not released until several years after the conclusion of the war. This bill demands immediate attention and should be enacted.

[This Act was never passed into law]

 

The Wartime Treatment Study Act Findings

 

According to the “findings,” over 600,000 Italian-born and 300,000 German-born “resident aliens” were branded as “enemy aliens.” These Americans were forced to carry special Identification Certificates, their travel was limited, and some had their personal property seized. Much like the internment of the Japanese, many of these Italian and German resident aliens were forced to move, often leaving behind homes and businesses.

 

The findings also address the plight of European Latin Americans, several thousand of whom were forcibly transported to United States’ internment camps after pressuring Latin American governments. This again parallels similar treatment suffered by the Japanese, notably in Peru, who were placed in camps in Texas during the war.

 

The U.S. restriction of European Jewish refugees is addressed in finding number 10, referring to immigration policies of the 1930’s and 1940’s that severely limited the number of Jewish refugees seeking escape from Nazism. Finding number 11 begins with the phrase, “Time is of the essence…” Sixty-four years after World War II ended, many eye-witnesses and victims are already dead.

 

Recommendations of the Act

 

The Act calls for the establishment of separate commissions charged with amassing documentation regarding Italian and German wartime treatment as well as the issue of Jewish refugees. Composed of 7 members each, the commissions would be empowered to hire staff, subpoena witnesses, and hold hearings. The conclusions would enable Congress and the President to develop responses. Although the Act does not call for any specific remedies, victims, much like the Japanese-Americans, could receive financial compensation.

 

Also not addressed in the Act are German-Americans that were either deported back to Germany, including entire families, or – as in the case of German Latin Americans, traded for Americans held in Germany. The goal of the Act is reflected in the amended title: “A bill to establish commissions to review the facts and circumstances surrounding injustices suffered by European Americans, European Latin Americans, and Jewish refugees during World War II.”

 

Finally, the Act calls upon the commission to provide a review that includes “as assessment of the underlying rationale of the…government’s decision to develop…programs and policies…” that led to the loss of personal liberties. Additionally, it calls for a “recommendation of appropriate remedies, including how civil liberties can better be protected…” SEC. 102, (b), (1) and (4).

 

Even if eventual passage of the Act does not lead to reparations, the methodologies used during World War II against perceived “enemy aliens” can help to deter similar actions in the future. President Franklin Roosevelt’s order to the FBI to arrest suspected German-Americans was given on December 7, 1941, before Germany declared war on the United States.

 

Sources:

 

The Wartime Treatment Study Act, S.1691, 108^th Congress, 1^st Session.

 

Joe Wendel, “Thousands of totally innocent German Americans were dragged out of their homes, usually during the darkness of night,” New Yorker Staats-Zeitung & German Times, No. 13, March 28, 2009, p GT1.