Italian carabinieri from the unit responsible for the protection of cultural heritage have returned to the country five preparatory notes by Benito Mussolini related to his meeting with Adolf Hitler, which took place on April 22, 1944, in Salzburg, as reported by RIA Novosti.
The discovery of these notes was made possible through regular checks of the antique market and a signal from the Archival and Bibliographic Management of Piedmont and Aosta Valley regarding the appearance at auction of documents that required permission for sale and export abroad.
“The initial examination showed that the handwritten sheets offered for sale belonged to Benito Mussolini, as evidenced by his handwriting and the monogram 'M' at the bottom of the last sheet,” the carabinieri noted.
The contents of the notes consist of a detailed list of topics divided into three categories: “Armed Forces,” “Politics,” and “Economics and Labor.” Although the exact date is absent, the content of the notes largely corresponds to the issues discussed during Mussolini's meeting with Hitler in the spring of 1944. An examination based on comparisons with known autographs confirmed their authenticity. An additional confirmation was the characteristic folding of the sheets, which is typical for carrying working notes in a pocket.
The investigation also revealed that these documents had been on the antique market since the end of World War II, presumably since April 1945. This occurred in the context of the collapse of the regime of the Italian Social Republic, the last puppet state under Mussolini's leadership, after which his personal archive and the archives of several state institutions disappeared.
Since the notes were created by the head of government in the course of his official duties and pertain to state and international matters, they were recognized as exceptional historical property belonging to the Italian state. The documents will be transferred to the archives of the Italian Ministry of Culture for further scientific study and preservation.
