Interlude in Umbarger: Italian POWs and a Texas Church (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9781682830130)

Interned in a camp at Hereford in the Texas panhandle, more than 3,000 Italian POWs spent the last years of World War II an ocean away from their family and friends. In the last year of the war, the prisoners suffered a siege of hunger dictated by government-ordered cutbacks in rations. The men called this episode la fame and found it difficult to supplement their meager meals. A handful of men in camp were artists, and it was this small group of prisoners who struck a deal with the priest of a nearby Catholic church. In exchange for a home-cooked meal each noon, the artists agreed to decorate the plain church with murals and carvings reminiscent of the Renaissance. This compassionate story of courage and kindliness is as enduring as the artwork that still graces the walls of a modest Catholic church in a tiny Texas town.

Author: Donald Mace Williams
ISBN-10: 1682830136
ISBN-13: 9781682830130
Publisher: Texas Tech University Press
Language: English
Published: 07/10/2017
Pages: 192
Format: Paperback
Weight: 0.80lbs
Size: 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.60d