Title: Interlude in Umbarger
Description: Interned in a camp 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. 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. 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.
Subjects: Prisoners of war, Italy, American Prisoners and prisons, United States, St. Mary's Church (Umbarger, Tex.), World War, 1939-1945, Biography, History, World war, 1939-1945, prisoners and prisons, american, Italy, biography, Texas, biography, Texas, history
Places: Hereford (Tex.), Hereford Military Reservation and Reception Center (Tex.), Umbarger (Tex.)
People: Franco Di Bello