Call to heal the open wound of Italians' treatment

But 70 years ago this summer, to be Italian was to be an enemy of the state. On the orders of Winston Churchill, Italian men were dragged from their homes in handcuffs, interned in Saughton Prison and other Scottish jails, and even deported.

Now one of Edinburgh's best-known Italian figures is leading calls for official recognition of their plight and a government apology.

Arts impresario Richard Demarco wants the Scottish Parliament to take a lead and apologise for the internment and help ensure a memorial is created to mark one of the most tragic incidents in Scots-Italian history.

A total of 446 F Italians were among 700 people who died when the Arandora Star was torpedoed by a U-boat as it took more than 1,500 deported Italians and Germans to Canada in 1940.

Mr Demarco said: "This is a subject that is on my mind every single day: why were the Italians treated like rubbish?

"The Scottish Government should do what Westminster has never done – issue an apology and even compensation to pay for the suffering that has gone on for a generation.

"Imagine, in the middle of the night police officers come and they take away your husband, your father, your grandfather. And some were never seen again.

"But if people had taken a moment to think, they would have realised it was madness. These people couldn't be the enemy, they were much-loved members of the community, they had businesses here."

Among those interned and deported were members of some of the city's best-known Italian families, including those behind the celebrated Valvona & Crolla delicatessen in Elm Row.

Former lord provost Eric Milligan today backed the call for official recognition of the suffering of a generation of Scots-Italians.

"These were good, law-abiding people who were highly valued members of the community and who became 'enemies of the state' overnight because of Mussolini," he said.

"That opened a wound that has never satisfactorily been healed.

"Perhaps it is time to revisit the events that took place, and consider some form of recognition for what took place."

However, neither the Scottish Parliament nor the city council currently has any plans to mark the occasion.

Because the internment was ordered by the Westminster government, officials suggested it was unlikely Scottish ministers would feel they were in a position to offer an apology.