Draft:Salvatore Caridi

Salvatore Caridi (1898 – June 27, 1980) was an Italian American social leader and fascist agitator during the 1930s. Before emigrating to the United States, he served in the Royal Italian Army during World War I and later as deputy mayor of the Cirò marina district. Upon the United States entering World War II, he was interned as an enemy alien. He is most notable for his cooperation with Nazi activist Fritz Kuhn and the German American Bund.

Life in Italy
Caridi was born and raised in Cirò Marina and later studied medicine in Rome. At the age of 20, he volunteered as a garibaldine under Ricciotti Garibaldi to fight for Albanian independence, though the group never engaged in combat. After graduating, he served in World War I as a battlefield medic with the rank of Lieutenant and received injury.

After the war, he was elected as deputy mayor of Cirò, where he engaged in efforts to develop secondary education in the town.

Activity in the United States
In 1921, Caridi emigrated to Union City, New Jersey and began practicing gynecology. Due to his service of the Italian-American community, he soon became an influential social leader, founding multiple cultural and charitable organizations.

Caridi was a leader of the Fascist League of North America and from 1930 through 1931 served on the governing council of the Lictor Federation, successor to the FLNA. As president of a North Hudson Italian War Veterans organization, he organized paramilitaries inspired by the Blackshirts of Fascist Italy. On July 18th, 1937, he led some 500 of his blackshirts at a fascist rally at Camp Nordland in cooperation with the German American Bund. There, a prominent speaker alongside Fritz Julius Kuhn, he promised "a punch in the nose" for the enemies of Mussolini and Hitler.

For his activities, he was known to the Congressional Dies Committee, and, upon the United States' entrance into World War II, was interned as an enemy alien for the duration of the war.

After his release, he continued practicing gynecology until 1972, and remained a prominent member of the Italian-American community. He died in Fort Lee on June 27, 1980.