The Waterbury Democrat., 1943-08-09

Continued from Page -
vast areas of northern Italy's three
most important industrial cities in
ruins from Saturday nights air
raids, London sources believed that
the stalling of the tWo-Week- old
Italian government Of Marshal Pie
tro Badoglio may be nearing an
end.
Thousands of Pamphlets
An Italian frontier report said
thousands of anti-Badoglio pamph-
lets calling for a general strike be-
ginning today as protest against
the governments failure to make
peace we're distributed in Milan,
Turin and Genoa following the air
raids.
An underground radio station
identifying itself as Free Milan
was heard broadcasting, I'VE must
make peace straight away If We want
to save ourselves. The people who
succeeded in chasing Mussolini will
rise again and chase Badoglio to OBJ
tain peace either we make
peace or we d1e!"
Badoglio was reported to have Of
fered to surrender if the Allies
would agree not to use Italy as a
base for an attack on Germany.
The Allies presumably replied with an
adamant demand for Italy's uncon-
ditional surrender. The nature of
any new Italian peace offer was
not known.
Fears of Military Coup
Observers in Stockholm specu-
lated that Nazi fears of military
coup in Germany to overthrow Hit
Ter, or demand from the military
for guarantee that the Nazi party
would Cease interference in the
prosecution of the war prompted
the council at Hitler's headquarters,
but they acknowledged that this
might be wishful thinking.
A wide variety of reports of bust
ness transacted or discussed at the
NaZi conference reached London.
Among them were:
Hitler sought to pressure Japa-
nese Ambassador Hiroshi Oshima,
who attended, into persuading his
government to attack Russia. Madrid
heard that neutral diplomat in
France offered to wager that Japan
would declare war on the Soviets
within a week.
2.-The conference ordered Ger
man Foreign Minister Joachim Won
Ribbentrop to keep Italy fighting as
long as possible to enable the Ger
mans to prepare military positions
in northern Italy and shorten de-
lenses in the Balkans.
3.-The military command propos-
ed shortening the Russian front by
withdrawal to the Dnieper River
line, or even farther west.
4.-The conference entrusted the
Nazi party with the task of strength
ening home morale in the face of
intensified Allied bombing raids.
How Much Aid to Italy
italian frontier reports said that
German Marshal Wilhelm Keitel, SUI
preme commander of the German
armed forces, went from the meet
ALB w NSiOild III llOl CllClil 1Udly w
confer with high italian army Of
ficials, presumably to inform them
of how much aid Germany could
provide should Italy remain in the
war.
Keitel and the italian officers
also may have dealt with the re-
placement of Italian forces In
France and the Balkans with Ger
man troops. Confirmation was said
to have reached Bern that the Ger
mans already were taking over from
the Italians in southeastern France.
Ribbentrop and italian Foreign
Minister Rafael Guariglio were I'M
derstood to have gone to Verona fol-
lowing initial conferences in Rome.
which Bern understood is to be de-
clared an open city.
The Daily sketch gossip colliniiist
said German Propaganda Minister
Joseph Goebbels has been in Rome
TO consult Badoglio and Italian pro-
paganda chiefs