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One of the most important events held during Hitler's stay in Rome, was a speech in the Basilica of Maxentius on 4 May 1938 to Italiendeutschen or ethnic Germans from South Tyrol (Südtirol in German, Alto Adige in Italian). Until 1918 that area was a part of the Austro-Hungarian Princely County of Tyrol, but the almost completely German-speaking territory was occupied by Italy at the end of the World War I in November 1918. It was then annexed to the Kingdom of Italy in 1919 as the Allies promised the area to Italy in the 1915 Treaty of London as an incentive to enter the war on the Allied side.

With the rise of Fascism under Mussolini in Italy, the new regime made efforts to bring forward the 'Italianization' of South Tyrol. The German language was banished from public service, German teaching was officially forbidden, and German newspapers were censored (with the exception of the fascist Alpenzeitung).

Hitler however, considered the citizens of Südtirol ethnic Germans and the NSDAP formed a special Auslands-Organisation Landesgruppe Italien to attend to them.

Offered on this USMBOOKS web page is an incredibly rare multi-purpose pink ticket issued to an ethnic German woman, Rosa Loupal (born 13 April 1901 in Villach). The two-sided 3-3/4 x 4-7/8 inch ticket or Tessera number 3223/1019 was Loupal's entrance ticket to the Basilica of Maxentius in Rome and the back side doubled as her train ticket to travel from Milan to Rome for the historic occasion. It was issued and stamped by the NSDAP AO Landesgruppe Italien and has the stamped signature of its leader, diplomat (and member of the SS) Erwin Ettel on it.

So rare are these items of German / Italian Auslands-Organisation Nazi material that most people have never even seen a reference to them in books or in online searches. If a collector or museum was only going to have one ticket to a Hitler speech, this would be the one to have! We have never seen the pair offered for sale anywhere! Extremely rare, 100% original, condition exactly as shown.

In May 1938, German Chancellor Adolf Hitler made his only official state visit to Benito Mussolini's Fascist Italy (Staatsbesuch des Führers in Italien). He and his extensive entourage of Generals, high-ranking SS Officers, Nazi Cabinet Ministers and Diplomatic Corps Officials visited Rome, Florence and Naples. Rome was decked out in splendor from an earlier age in Italy and the Italian army and Italian paramilitary organizations were paraded continuously.

In March 1939 Rosa Loupal received the official cream colored hand-laid watermarked document with the Nazi eagle and swastika on front panel, the second item in this rare historic ephemera lot. Urkunde number 1325 was proof that Loupal had been approved as an official member of the Reichsdeutschen Vereinigung, the association of ethnic Germans in Milan. It allowed her to be entered in Hitler's 'Official Honor Book of Italian-Germans'. The 6-1/2 x 9-3/4 inch certificate served as her temporary membership ID as well. This rare Nazi Urkunde was issued by Landesgruppenleiters der NSDAP/AO in Italien Erwin Ettel in Milan on 4 March 1939.