From: GHE101@aol.com
To: sallystephensen@hotmail.com
Subject: Archive Help for Italy
Date: Mon, 28 Jan 2002 07:02:56 EST
Dear Sally:
Here is a letter for the national archive list-serve mentioned.
Please
cut & paste it and make the suitable posting. My friends in Italy are very
excited about the prospect of getting some of this information, and they
wanted me to convey their personal thanks for helping in this matter.
George
Dr. George H. Elder
Pen State University
State College, PA 16801
Re: Returning Italy's Cultural History
To Whom it May Concern:
As everyone on this list-serve knows, World War II left scars that
ran
deep and wide across Europe, and especially in Italy. The country was torn
by
war from 1940 through 1945, and then by frequently brutal civil strife that
persisted for another five years. It was during this lengthy national
travail
that many Italian governmental, military, and industrial records were
destroyed, lost, or taken by the Allies. In addition, many Italians sought
to
erase the past by actively destroying any and all records that were
associated with the war. As a result, entire truckloads of priceless
documents were carted off to pulp mills while thousands of priceless
photographic plates were reduced to shattered shards.
This is every archivist's worst nightmare, but many Italian
historians
are now striving to piece back together what was lost. It is not an easy
task, and this is why I have requested that this letter be posted on the
country's leading archivists' list serve. In short, our friends in Italy
need
your help in recovering part of their heritage. Many of the records they
seek
were appropriated by US military and governmental agencies during and
following W.W.II, and your collective expertise is needed in accessing and
acquiring this material.
Specifically, we need the physical location and file descriptions
(with titles and access numbers) of records that are being maintained by
the
US State Department. These are described as follows:
Records of the Foreign Service Posts of the Department of State
Records of the Political Advisor to the Supreme Allied Commander -
Mediterranean
Classified General Records (Entry 2789)
711.3. R.U.K. Files Location: 350/62/10/02
In addition, we need records from the various W.W.II and postwar
national security, military governance, and technical missions. These
organizations gathered numerous military and political documents, but they
have proven especially difficult to locate. There are various treasure
troves
of information on Italian military technology and executive proceedings
that
are distributed amongst many US archives, and we need your help in
accessing
this material. The information no longer exists within Italy, and here is a
perfect opportunity to put the archivist's art into practice.
So please contact me by email, letter, or phone, and I will forward
your advice directly to some very eager historians (Dr. Achille Rastelli &
Dr. Enrico Manfredi) who most assuredly need our best efforts. I am very
grateful for any help, advice, and information you can provide.
Respectfully Yours,
Dr. George H. Elder
445 Waupelani Drive, Apt. G-11
State College, PA 16801
Phone: 1-814-237-9185
Email: ghe101@aol.com
To: "Sally Stephensen" <sallystephensen@HOTMAIL.COM>