South Tyrol Option Agreement The South Tyrol Option Agreement ( ; ) refers to the period between 1939 and 1943 , when the native German speaking people in South Tyrol and three communes in the province of Belluno were given the " option " of either emigrating to neighboring Nazi Germany ( of which Austria was a part after the 1938 Anschluss ) or remaining in Fascist Italy and being forcibly integrated into the mainstream Italian culture , losing their language and cultural heritage . Over 80 % opted to move to Germany . Background . The southern part of Tyrol , renamed " Province of Bolzano " , had been a part of Italy since the end of World War I . After the rise of fascism in 1922 , a policy of Italianization in the area was implemented ruthlessly . All places , down to the tiniest hamlet , were given Italian names , and even family names were translated . The process intensified in the 1930s , when the government of Benito Mussolini encouraged thousands of southern Italians to relocate to the region , in a deliberate attempt at reducing the indigenous German - speaking population to minority status . Between 1928 and 1939 various resistance group s formed in the province to fight the fascist Italian regime and its policy of suppressing the German language . Children were taught the prohibited German language in clandestine catacombe schools and Catholic media and associations resisted the forced integration under the protection of the Vatican . The underground resistance movement , the " Völkischer Kampfring Südtirols " , was formed by a Nazi party member , " Peter Hofer " . Option for Germany . On 21 October 1939 , Adolf Hitler and Mussolini reached agreement on the assimilation of the ethnic German minorities in the province . The members of these two language communities had until 31 December 1939 to choose between remaining in Italy and losing all minority rights , or emigrating to Nazi Germany , the so - called " Option für Deutschland " ( option for Germany ) . 85 % - 90 % of the population opted for emigration ; they were called " Optanten " and banded together in the " Arbeitsgemeinschaft der Optanten für Deutschland " ( Association of optants for Germany ) . Those who chose to stay , called " Dableiber " , mainly banded together around local Catholic priests . The " Dableiber " were condemned as traitors , while the " Optanten " were defamed as Nazi s . The Option destroyed many families and the development of the economy of the province was set back for many years . The first families left their homeland in 1939 , and until 1943 a total of around 75 , 000 South Tyroleans emigrated , of which 50 , 000 returned after the war . The Arbeitsgemeinschaft der Optanten für Deutschland ( ADO ) ( German for " Association of optants for Germany " ) was an association for German - speakers who had chosen to emigrate to Germany rather than stay in South Tyrol . The association was founded on 30 January 1940 . Peter Hofer took leadership of the Association . German occupation . In September 1943 the Wehrmacht occupied the province and on 10 September 1943 the Operation Zone of the Alpine Foothills was established . The ADO was dissolved and joined with the " Deutsche Volksgruppe " . Peter Hofer was chosen as the " Volksgruppenführer " . Some members of the ADO joined with the South Tyrolean Volunteer Corps and were involved in the annihilation of the Jewish population in Meran . They also attempted to arrest fleeing Italian soldiers and attacked those who had chosen to remain , even though this had been expressly forbidden by the Third Reich authority . The relocation of people and the complete Italianization of the area was never fully accomplished . Aftermath . The majority of the people who had emigrated returned to the area in 1945 . Despite Austrian efforts , South Tyrol remained part of Italy after World War II , and many chose to take up Italian citizenship after the Gruber - De Gasperi Agreement . This , named after the foreign minister of Austria ( Karl Gruber ) and the prime minister of Italy ( Alcide De Gasperi ) , of September 1946 , allowed Trentino - Alto Adige / Südtirol to remain part of Italy , but ensured its autonomy . Those who returned had to register both themselves and their children , and they had to prove , by means of a birth certificate , that they had the right to Italian citizenship . After 1945 none of the ADO leaders were tried for their crimes ( Peter Hofer was killed during Allied bombing raid ) . Only recently have historians started to examine this period in the history of South Tyrol . According to the 2001 census , more than two - thirds ( 69 . 4 % ) of the population of the province speak German , 26 . 3 % Italian and 4 . 3 % Ladin as their mother language .