Catania, Sicily: reading Allied news under U.S. and British flags, 1943

Catania, Sicily: reading Allied news under U.S. and British flags, 1943

Sicilians in Catania study a pillar of Allied news photographs above U.S. and British flags, with a poster headed La Liberta in the window. The official caption says the news was of particular interest because it "had been denied them during the Fascist years": the photograph was itself made for Allied publicity.

Date
September 1943
Period
Second World War
Made by
U.S. Office of War Information (photograph); Allied Psychological Warfare Branch display
Region
North America
Country
United States
Medium
Photograph
Issuer type
State
Regime
Roosevelt Administration
Leader
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Audience
Enemy civilians
Purpose
Persuade or win support
Themes
Media and information, War and the military
Event
World War II
Techniques
TransferCard stacking
Source
Identified Openly sourced: the speaker is who they say they are
Source
Library of Congress, retrieved September 27, 2026
Rights
Public domain (U.S. government work; LOC: no known restrictions)
Nick Parrino, U.S. Office of War Information, 1943. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division, FSA/OWI Collection, LC-USW3-039937-E.

Text on the object

Original (Italian) · read from the image, not independently checked

LA LIBERTA

[illegible — captions beneath the photographs pinned to the display pillar]

English translation (machine translation by Claude, not verified by a fluent reader)

LIBERTY

[illegible]

'LA LIBERTA' is the only clearly legible text, printed on a poster visible through the window behind the group. The pillar of Allied news photographs on the left carries typed or printed captions under each photo, but they are too small and low-resolution in this service JPEG to read.