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ALS in Italian, signed “Mussolini,” two pages, 8.25 x 12, Telegramma in Partenza [Outgoing Telegram] letterhead, July 30, 1944. Handwritten draft of a telegram to "The Führer of the Great German Reich," in full (translated): "I was, as always, particularly pleased to receive your good wishes on the occasion of my birthday, and above all because they were addressed also to the Italian people, who are resolved to take up the struggle again at the side of your courageous soldiers. stop. The vicissitudes of a war like the present one, which are of a magnitude previously unknown in history, do not alter my deep conviction of ultimate victory, which has been particularly strengthened after having seen that Supreme Providence watches over your life and hence, over the future of your people. stop. Please accept from me, Führer, the warm greetings of a comrade." In fine condition. Accompanied by an original vintage glossy 5 x 7 press photo of Hitler meeting with Mussolini on July 22, 1944, following the failed 'Operation Valkyrie' attempt on Hitler's life.
Written just ten days after the failed July 20, 1944 attempt on Hitler’s life, this extraordinary message captures Mussolini reaffirming his loyalty to the Führer at one of the darkest moments for the Axis. Mussolini had visited Hitler at the Wolf’s Lair shortly after the bombing, where the two inspected the damage from Claus von Stauffenberg’s briefcase bomb; Hitler’s survival was quickly presented by Nazi propaganda as evidence that "Providence" had preserved him for a historic mission.
Mussolini echoes that theme explicitly here, declaring that “Supreme Providence watches over your life” and professing an undiminished belief in “ultimate victory.” By July 1944, however, such confidence stood in stark contrast to military reality: Allied forces had established themselves in Normandy, the Red Army was advancing from the east, and Mussolini himself ruled only the German-supported Italian Social Republic in northern Italy. The telegram is thus a striking testament to the personal and political bond between the two dictators, written less than nine months before both regimes collapsed.
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