La Voce della Patria

La Voce della Patria (lit. 'The Voice of the Fatherland' in Italian) was an Italian-language weekly newspaper published in Berlin from 1943 to 1944.^[1][2] It was an organ of the Republican Fascists Abroad and Overseas, published by the Italian Social Republic (RSI) Berlin embassy for distributed in camps of Italian Military Internees (IMI) in Germany following the September 3, 1943 armistice between the Kingdom of Italy and the Allied powers.^[2][3][4]

La Voce della Patria

October 24, 1943 issue of La Voce della Patria
Publisher	Guido Tonella
Founded	October 3, 1943 (1943-10-03)
Political alignment	Fascist
Language	Italian
Ceased publication	September 18, 1944 (1944-09-18)
City	Berlin, Germany
Circulation	40,000–50,000
OCLC number	472931087

The journalist Guido Tonella, who had been the correspondent of La Stampa, was the publisher of La Voce della Patria.^[5][6] The editorial office of La Voce della Patria was located at Victoriastrasse 10.^[6] It was printed by Deutscher Verlag.^[7]

The first issue of La Voce della Patria was published on October 3, 1943.^[1] 13 issues of the newspaper were published in 1943, whilst 37 issues were published in 1944.^[5] Issues of the newspaper were 46 cm.^[7]

The publication was the sole communication channel from the outside world to the IMI.^[2] La Voce della Patria sought to mobilize support for RSI among Italian internees, and argued that the German actions towards Italian soldiers were justified.^[2] It argued that Pietro Badoglio had betrayed Italy, and that Italian soldiers should remain loyal with their German allies.^[2] Particularly in the period of October-December 1943, the newspaper carried plenty of appeals for enlisting to support Germany either through joining the RSI armed forces or by joining labour units.^[2] The discourse of the publication invoked both moral arguments in favour of fascism as well as indications that enlisting could result in improved food rations or material conditions.^[2]

Some 40,000-50,000 copies of the issues of La Voce della Patria were distributed in the camps.^[8] Per testimonies of former camp detainees, the newspaper was frequently used as toilet paper.^[9]

The last issue of La Voce della Patria was published on September 18, 1944.^[7] In October 1944 La Voce della Patria was replaced by the biweekly Il Camerata ('The Comrade').^[10]

References

1. Cassa di risparmio di Firenze. Biblioteca (2004). La biblioteca di uno storico: Saggi e periodici (in Italian). Polistampa. p. 87. ISBN 9788883046063.
2. Silvia Pascale (19 August 2018). Una candela illumina il Lager (in Italian). CIESSE Edizioni di SANTI Carlo. ISBN 9788866602699.
3. Internati, prigionieri, reduci: la deportazione militare italiana durante la seconda guerra mondiale. Istituto bergamasco per la storia della Resistenza e dell'età contemporanea, 1999. p. 67
4. Tommaso Rossi; Aurora Caporali (4 February 2022). E io no! Non sono tedesco!: Alberto Pucciarini, dalle scuole in colonia alla prigionia in Germania (in Italian). CIESSE Edizioni di SANTI Carlo. p. 137. ISBN 9788866604082.
5. Gabriele Hammermann (2002). Zwangsarbeit für den "Verbündeten": die Arbeits- und Lebensbedingungen der italienischen Militärinternierten in Deutschland 1943-1945 (in German). Niemeyer. pp. 298, 656. ISBN 978-3-484-82099-9.
6. Ricciotti Lazzero (1996). Gli schiavi di Hitler: i deportati italiani in Germania nella seconda guerra mondiale (in Italian). Mondadori. pp. 95–96. ISBN 9788804392613.
7. Giuseppina Benassati (2008). Le carte di Giovannino: prime indagini sui materiali dell'Archivio Guareschi (in Italian). Bononia University Press. p. 318. ISBN 9788873953968.
8. Nicola Labanca (1992). Fra sterminio e sfruttamento: militari internati e prigionieri di guerra nella Germania nazista, 1939-1945 (in Italian). Le Lettere. p. 250. ISBN 9788871661001.
9. Anna Maria Casavola (2008). 7 ottobre 1943: la deportazione dei carabinieri romani nei lager nazisti (in Italian). Studium. p. 71. ISBN 9788838240423.
10. Gianni Giannoccolo. I militari italiani nelle formazioni germaniche, 1943-1945. UNIGRAF, 1996. p. 34