[LETTER FROM HITLER TO MUSSOLINI]
Duce!
. Allow me at the beginning of this letter to assure you that my heart and my thoughts have been, in the last 14 days, more than ever with you. Be further assured, Duce, of my determination to do all which I can in the present situation to be of aid to you.
When I asked you to receive me in Florence, I began the journey in the hope that I could make my thoughts known to you before the threatening conflict with Greece, of which I had received only general knowledge.
I wanted to ask you first of all to postpone the battle, if possible to a more favourable time of year, in any case however, until after the American presidential election.
In any case, however, I wanted to ask you, Duce, not to undertake this battle without a previous lightning-like occupation of Crete, and for this purpose I wanted also to bring along for you practical suggestions for the commitment of a German parachute division and a further airborne division.
* * * * 4« * *
â. Jugoslavia must become disinterested, but if possible by even being positively interested in our point of view,'co-operate in cleaning up the Greek question. Without security on the part of Jugoslavia, no successful operation in the Balkans is to be risked.
2762-PS
I must, however, unfortunately observe that conducting a war in the Balkans is not possible before March. Therefore, any threatening* move toward Jugoslavia would be useless, since the impossibility of a materialization of such threats before March is well known to the Serbian general staff. Therefore, Jugoslavia must be won, if at all possible, by other ways and means. * * * With hearty greetings in faithful comradeship, your
/s/ Adolf Hitler
Extract from a letter to Mussolini, asking him to delay any attack on Greece and noting the need to influence Yugoslavia to cooperate in "the liquidation of the Greek question"
Authors
Adolf Hitler (Fuehrer, Reich Chancellor, Supeme Commander of Wehrmacht)
Adolf Hitler
Austrian nationalized German politician, leader of the National Socialist party and dictator of Germany (1889-1945)
- Born: 1889-01-01 1889-04-20 (Braunau am Inn) (country: Austria-Hungary; located in the administrative territorial entity: Archduchy of Austria above the Enns; statement is subject of: Adolf-Hitler-Geburtshaus)
- Died: 1945-04-30 (Berlin Führerbunker) (country: Nazi Germany; located in the administrative territorial entity: Berlin; statement is subject of: death of Adolf Hitler)
- Country of citizenship: Cisleithania (period: 1889-04-20 through 1918-11-11); First Republic of Austria (period: 1919-01-01 through 1925-04-30); Nazi Germany (end cause: death of Adolf Hitler; period: 1933-01-30 through 1945-04-30); Republic of German-Austria (period: 1918-01-01 through 1919-01-01)
- Occupation: painter (statement is subject of: paintings by Adolf Hitler); political writer; politician (reason for preferred rank: generally used form); soldier
- Member of political party: German Workers' Party (period: 1919-09-12 through 1921-07-11); Nazi Party (series ordinal: 556)
- Member of: Nazi Party
- Participant in: Aktion T4; Beer Hall Putsch; The Holocaust; ethnic cleansing
- Significant person: Albert Speer; Benito Mussolini; Eva Braun; Joseph Stalin
Date: November 1940
Literal Title: Duce!
Total Pages: 1
Language of Text: English
Source of Text: Nazi conspiracy and aggression (Office of United States Chief of Counsel for Prosecution of Axis Criminality. Washington, D.C. : U.S. Government Printing Office, 1946.)
Evidence Code: PS-2762
Citation: IMT (page 1132)
HLSL Item No.: 450887
Notes:The extract is not dated, but the document book table of contents states "probably early November 1940."
Document Summary
PS-2762: Hitler's letter to Mussolini re future attack in the Balkans
PS-2762: Undated letter from Hitler to Mussolini: criticism of Italy’s "too early" attack on Greece: appraisal of the resulting political and military situation; suggestions for meeting it, such as: attempt to induce Spain to enter the war, change of military plans, etc.