Allied escapers and the contadini in occupied Italy (1943 – 5) 1

Abstract

The little-known ‘great escape’ of Allied prisoners-of-war (some 50,000) held in Italian camps at the time of the armistice of 8 September 1943 provides the starting-point for a fresh interpretation of popular and peasant experience during the emergency of 1943 – 5. The article explores some of the main aspects of the ‘strange alliance’ between Allied fugitives and the Italian population, with particular attention to the mutual symbolic appropriation between former ‘enemies’ in the midst of a civil war and related collapse of the state.     

Interview with Sara Margaret Evans

Born in 1943 in South Carolina, Evans graduated from high school in Dallas, Texas, and received her B.A. and M.A. degrees from Duke University and her Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. She began teaching at the University of Minnesota in 1976 and has been Distinguished McKnight University Professor since 1997. Her Personal Politics related U.S. women's liberation to the Civil Rights and New Left movements. Her Born for Liberty: A History of American Women is in its second edition and has been translated into a number of foreign languages. A noted activist, feminist, and teacher, Evans has coauthored books on women's history, consulted on several video productions, participated in national review panels, and served on the boards of various professional organizations. She has a 31-year-old son and a 19-year-old adopted daughter from Korea. This interview was conducted in Evans's office at the University of Minnesota by Roger Adelson in March 2000.