Whitewashing the Italians

Actually it depended on the unit. Italian soldiers' behavior reflected the attitudes of their commanders. If he was humane, they treated people decently. If he wasn't, they weren't.

But on the whole, you are absolutely right. I am of Sicilian ancestry and I freely admit that the Italians could be as brutal as the Germans, only without the courage. Corelli and his men had no shame for their cowardice and humiliation in Albania. They were proud of it. Then they stupidly rose up against the Germans. How could they have thought they could beat the Germans when the Greeks made them eat dirt? To top it off, when they were inevitably defeated by the Germans, they of course surrendered instead of going into the hills like the Greeks. This proved they were stupid as well as cowardly. Were they actually so stupid as to believe that the Germans would let the Italians live after they betrayed them?

I believe the Italians committed atrocities because that is the ultimate trait of all bullies - cowardice. Italians created the Mafia. How moral could they be? The Italians have been the world's greatest cowards, and proud of it, since the fall of Rome in the 5th Century. Their disgraceful behavior in abandoning American soldiers in Somalia (my youngest brother was one of them)proves they haven't changed and never will. What can you expect of people who had to use poison gas to beat the Ethiopians?

It must be the culture because American, Canadian, and Australian soldiers of Italian ancestry have acquitted themselves well in battle. My family has fought for America since the Spanish-American War. We were scared, but we weren't cowards. The greatest day in my family's history was when my great-grandfather left that god-forsaken country and moved to the United States.

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You are totally correct. Recently, "Captain Corelli's Mandolin" was shown on American TV, followed by a historical analysis which clearly documented that the Italians looked to "get even" with the Greeks. At the kangaroo court, unofficial, in absentia trial of Kurt Waldheim some years ago, it was pointed out that when his German division wiped out a Greek village (Waldheim wasn't there), they were aided by an Italian division. I am of Sicilian ancestry and have nothing to gain by lying.

As for calling President Bush "the devil incarnate," that guy can go pound sand. If he's so liberal, he probably doesn't believe in God or the devil.

Actually, American films have always been somewhat sympathetic to the Italians. "Sahara" and "Five Graves to Cairo" were films made during WWII which included sympathetic Italian soldiers who were regarded with disdain by the Germans, usually portrayed as evil incarnate back then, for their cowardice. The only film which had a serious battle between Americans and Italians during WWII to my knowledge was "Darby's Rangers" made in 1959. There are more German-Americans than Italian-Americans, so I don't know why. Perhaps because American families of Italian ancestry hold on to their ethnic heritage longer and to a greater degree.

I have seen several British, South African, and Australian films in which the Italians are portrayed villainously. For instance, in the British "Tank Force," which starred Victor Mature, an American actor of Italian and Austrian ancestry, a German officer at an Axis POW camp was the humane one while the Italian commander was the brute.

Of course, you know Nicolas Cage is the son of an Italian-American father and a German-American mother, as is Leonardo DiCaprio. When Italian-American men marry outside their ethnicity, they tend to marry German-American women more than any other group except Irish-Americans.

I totally agree that American films have tended to "whitewash" the Italians. On the whole their actions did not match the atrocities of the German SS, but that would be almost impossible to do, and soldiers of all nations on both sides, including Britons, Russians, and Americans, did wrong. Still, Italian collaboration in Axis atrocities is well-documented. It makes their cowardice and incompetence in the field of combat look that much worse. It proves that they didn't lose because "their hearts weren't in it." Growing up in Brooklyn, New York and being of that ancestry myself, I can confirm that the Italian-American kids were among the meanest and cruelest bullies.

Going back to the original topic of the thread, I agree to some extent that there was considerable "whitewashing" of the Italians in this film. The impression one gets from the film is that all Italians (including the soldiers) were peace-loving and were just unwillingly dragged into the War by Mussolini. Of the three major Axis Powers, Italy got off most lightly and was not divided or occupied after the War. However, what Italy did in the War was quite short of honorable:

1. In 1940, Italy declared war on a prostrate France just days before her final defeat in order to get a share of the spoils. That action was condemned even by the Pope.

2. A year later, Italy started her attacks on Greece and in North Africa - which caught even the Germans by surprise. In both cases, the Italians suffered serious military setbacks and had to be bailed out by the Germans.

3. Still later, when the fortunes turned against the Axis Powers, Italy made a separate peace with the Allies, thereby unavoidably turning against the Germans. That gave rise to some of the events we saw in this film. It was perhaps a bit convenient that the people turned against Mussolini only after the War itself had turned against Italy.

Of course, it could be argued that not all Italians liked or even agreed with Mussolini, and this point is well-taken. But that would just be another way of saying that other Italians did.

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This is purely anecdotal, but my grandparents are from Lefkas which is part of the same group of islands as Kefalonia and my mother (who was a 10yo child during the war) vouches for the Italians that were occupying Lefkas at the time.

She said that the most of Italians posted there really did not want to be there and did not bother the locals at all. She said that were as respectful as could be expected from an occupying power.

After Italy switched allegiances, my grandparents actually hid an Italian soldier from the Germans until it was safe for him to return back to Italy.

YMMV.