Editing Palermo (section)

=== The second world war ===

During the [[Second World War]], Palermo was heavily bombed by the Allied air forces in 1942 and 1943, until its capture during the [[Allied invasion of Sicily]] on 22 July 1943.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://palermo.repubblica.it/cronaca/2013/05/09/news/le_bombe_del_9_maggio_1943_che_distrussero_palermo-58431764/ |title=Le bombe del 9 maggio 1943 che distrussero Palermo – Palermo – Repubblica.it |newspaper=La Repubblica |date=9 May 2013| access-date=5 September 2018| archive-date=5 September 2018| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180905182046/https://palermo.repubblica.it/cronaca/2013/05/09/news/le_bombe_del_9_maggio_1943_che_distrussero_palermo-58431764/| url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="auto">{{Cite journal |url=http://www.intrasformazione.com/index.php/intrasformazione/article/view/256/pdf |doi=10.4474/DPS/05/02/SGG256/12 |title=I bombardamenti di Palermo (1940-1943) |journal=Intrasformazione: Rivista di Storia delle Idee |volume=5 |issue=2 |pages=146–157 |year=2016 |last1=Pasta |first1=Antinea | access-date=5 September 2018| archive-date=5 September 2018| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180905175823/http://www.intrasformazione.com/index.php/intrasformazione/article/view/256/pdf| url-status=live}}</ref> The harbour (main objective of the air attacks) and the surrounding quarters were effectively destroyed, as was a considerable part of the city, with heavy civilian casualties.<ref name="auto"/>  When American troops entered Palermo in 1943 they were greeted with "a thunderous welcome by what seemed the entire population demonstrating their feelings about Fascist rule."   The two captured Italian generals claimed that they were happy because in their view "the Sicilians were not human beings but animals".<ref name="D'Este1988">{{cite book |author=Carlo D'Este |title=Bitter Victory: The Battle for Sicily, July–August 1943 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6eJmAAAAMAAJ |date=January 1988 |publisher=Collins |isbn=978-0-00-217409-1 |page=423 |access-date=24 September 2018 |archive-date=18 October 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191018042618/https://books.google.com/books?id=6eJmAAAAMAAJ |url-status=live}}</ref> Anti-Sicilian prejudice was part of the fascist regime's world view, being promoted by pro-fascist newspapers, particularly in the north of Italy.<ref>Sideshow War: The Italian Campaign, 1943–1945 by George F. Botjer, published by Texas A & M University Press, 1996 pg. 32</ref>