Description

An unusual book published in Trieste under the Nazi government, days before it surrendered to the Allies and the Partisans, includes a collection of the articles from the first year of publishing the German newspaper Deutsche-Adria Zeitung (German-Adriatic Newspaper). The articles include report on the people, art and history of Trieste and Istria, mostly their connection with the German nation, as well as anti-Allies, anti-Semitic and anti-Partisan articles. The latter are depicted as bandits, and the Allies as greedy liars and a part of the Jewish conspiracy.   

The title page showcases an arms of Trieste in the middle, surrendered by flags of Italy, Germany, Great Britain and Russia, symbolising the city itself, which belonged to Italy until its capitulation in 1943, after it was taken over by the Nazi Germany. In April 1945 the Allies were already on the suburbs of Trieste and it was clear the city was about to fall and the end of war is only a matter of days.

The book was probably made in limited edition for and by the journalists of the Deutsche-Adria Zeitung and as a present to officials. The newspaper was published between January 14^th, 1944, andApril 28, 1945.

The introduction was written by Friedrich Rainer (1903 – 1947) a Nazi politician and an Austrian governor of Salzburg and Carinthia. Rainer was a close friend of Odilo Globočnik, one of the responsible for the Holocaust in Nazi extermination camps Majdanek, Treblinka, Sobibór and Bełżec, and latter appointed to Trieste, where he took over the program to Germanise the territory.

As the Allies were approaching Trieste, Rainer, Globočnik, and five other Nazis escaped from Trieste through the Alps. They were discovered in Carinthia by the Allies. Globočnik committed suicide, as Rainer was tried at the Nuremberg Trials and extradited to Yugoslavia, where he was executed in July 1947.

Historical Background

The book was published during a short lived Operational Zone of the Adriatic Littoral (Operationszone Adriatisches Küstenland or OZAK) – a Nazi Germany puppet state, which was created by Adolf Hitler after the capitulation of Italy in September 1943. OZAK embraced the area of Istria (now Croatia), Karst (Slovenia) and a part of the north-east Italy, with Trieste as a capital. In the time Trieste and OZAK became the scene of genocidal activities under the command of Odilo Globočnik (21 April 1904 – 31 May 1945), a Higher SS and Police Leader. The Nazi plan for the region was Germanisation of the population, based on their understanding of history of medieval Germany and the borders of Habsburg monarchy.

OZAK was dissolved at the beginning of May 1945, when the Nazi troops in Trieste, which were facing an uprising of the Italian anti-fascist Comitato di Liberazione Nazionale and the attacks of Tito’s Yugoslav partisans, surrendered to the New Zealand 2nd Division. Less than a month later Odilo Globočnik committed suicide.

We could only trace four examples in libraries worldwide (Library Dušan Černe, Trieste; National and University Library, Ljubljana; Ljubljana City Library; Slovene National and Study Library, Trieste).

References: OCLC 780979526.