Free Republic

We think of It's a Wonderful Life as a great American movie, a great Jimmy Stewart movie, a great Frank Capra movie — and, of course, as a great Christmas movie. We don't think of it as a great Italian-American movie. But we should, especially at Christmastime, when Italian-Americans — of Capra's generation and beyond — can be heard in every shop and restaurant singing many of the songs that define the season. Capra was born in Sicily, and at age 6 moved to Los Angeles. It's a Wonderful Life is spiced with subtle but significant references to his fellow...

Saint Maxmilian Kolbe: The Immaculata's Perfect Knight By Michael Gorre    St. Maximilian Kolbe Having selected ten prisoners to die in the starvation bunker to serve as a lesson for an escaped prisoner, Nazi SS Captain Karl Fritsch was about to leave Auschwitz concentration camp’s Block 13 when the unimaginable happened. Prisoner 16670 stepped out of formation. A murmur spread through the line of prisoners. Facing the 47 year old prisoner, Fritsch demanded, “What do you want, you Polish dog?”The prisoner, Father Maximilian Kolbe, OFM Conv., removed his cap and said, “I want to die in the place of...