Wherever they are emigrated, Italians have always brought with them not only traditions culinary and cultural, but also a strong spirit of solidarity and community. From the big American cities to the small South American villages, from the remote corners of Australia to the working-class neighborhoods of Belgium, the history of Italian emigration is dotted with extraordinary episodes of mutual aid, volunteering and collective generosity. A distinctive trait that has crossed centuries and borders.
Solidarity among migrant workers
In the years of great migrations, especially among miners, workers and laborers, solidarity was a matter of survival. Italians who emigrated to the mines of Belgium or to the shipyards of New York shared what little they had, helped each other find work, hospitality or treatments.
It was common for new arrivals to be welcomed by fellow countrymen who hosted them free of charge until they found housing and employment. In many North American cities, the Italian neighborhoods ( "Little Italy”) became examples of supportive communities, where no one was abandoned and every religious celebration or anniversary became an opportunity to raise funds for the needy or to build schools, churches and hospitals.
Aid after disasters
- Italians abroad They have shown extraordinary generosity even during natural disasters or wars. In 1908, after the devastating earthquake in Messina and Reggio Calabria, the Italian communities in America and South America raised huge sums to help the survivors and support the reconstruction.
The same thing happened after the Friuli earthquake in 1976 and of theIrpinia in 1980, when entire Italian communities scattered around the world organized aid shipments and fundraisers. Finally, during the two world wars, Italian emigrants, although often living in countries in conflict with each other, never failed to provide material and moral support to their compatriots in their homeland and to wounded soldiers, sending money, medicines and basic necessities.
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