English Translation

7l Dr. B e r t s c h Prague, September 14, 1943. - 367/43 g 6S Beheim Brief c Ptov 2y Becm An 1 4-Obergruppenführer Staatsminister Fr a n k . Yesterday evening I was with Jher's approval for dinner with my wife in the Hungarian Consulate General. Otherwise there were only Mrs. T o u s s s a n t as well as envoy of L u c k w a l d with wife and niece. Spanyis was very kind; he had even given away his own timidity to the ladies for this evening. At the table, the conversation revolved mainly around the surrender of Jtalien and the liberation of Mussolini, since all those present had heard the 8 o'clock news on the radio. From Spanyi represented the point of view that the Jtalieners had delivered Mussolini themselves, as they had promised to protect the population from the Germans and. advantages for Jtalia in the event of a German victory. This was a typical Italian course of action, which he had not expected otherwise. The betrayal of Jtalian would not have overspeeded him in the least. He had always agreed with General Toussaint that the Jtaliens would not survive this war and would jump off at the first opportunity. He still owned the Manifesto of Emperor Franz Joseph, which in the year l9l5 had been beaten all over the old Austro-Hungarian Empire and contained an unsurpassable characteristic of the Italian people. The Romanians would not do it otherwise if necessary. He was convinced that if Germany was to lose the war, King Carol II would have come from abroad and had to ensure a decent peace. It would then be said that the poor young king had been forced by the violent Antonescu to the side of Germany against will. In private, I was told by Spanyi that Hungary would remain unfaithful. As long as Horthy was alive, there was not the slightest fear in this directive. Hungary had never practiced betrayal in all its history. It was different with the Balkan peoples. The best thing would be to light the whole Balkans and resettlement after the extermination of the present Balkan people. On my reply that this resettlement would then take place, he said that the Germans could do so from him. O Then he came to speak to General Toussaint, whom he highly praised. This man would, according to his opinion, be the correct German 20. IX. 1943 SD- Laikabsch Brag wialng on 17. IX, 1943 17. SEP. 1943 5809 finig Dus il L en S 9030