Operation 25. Axis powers meet in Yugoslavia: members of the 2nd (Motorcycle) Company, Reconnaissance Battalion, SS Bodyguard "Adolf Hitler", and of the 4th Bersaglieri Regiment meet after the joint capture of Struga on the shores of Lake Ohrid, 11 April 1941. The news of this today-forgotten Axis powers meeting was published in a number of newspapers at the time, around the globe; for example, in Reno (Nevada), on the front page of the "Reno Evening Gazette", one could have read the following text on 12 April 1941: "Italian troops joined forces with the Germans on the shores of Lake Ohrid in southwestern Yugoslavia and are 'crushing all enemy resistance' in a steady advance, Stefani, official Italian news agency, reported today. 'The march of powerful Axis armies is proceeding on all fronts', said a Stefani dispatch from the Yugoslav zone of operations. The news agency said the Fascists and Nazis joined their lines yesterday midway between Struga and Ohrid, Yugoslav towns on the northeastern shores of the lake, when a platoon of Italian motorcyclists and a Bersaglieri regiment met a German motorcycle platoon. Cries of 'Heil Hitler!' and 'Viva II Duce!' marked the meeting, Stefani's account said." The enclosed photograph was made, almost symbolically, by the well known writer and journalist Curzio Malaparte – who was German on his father's side and Italian on his mother's. A particularly bizarre detail in this rare photo is the Yugoslav soldier in the background, a member of the defeated Vardar Division, who greets the occupiers with a fascist salute (it is, of course, just a member of one of the friendly national minorities, probably German).
Text: Ivan Ž. / REG.
Photographer: Curzio Malaparte.
Date: 11 April 1941.
Location: Struga, Yugoslavia.
Original caption: unknown.
File source: Mondadori Portfolio, AA326442 / Getty Images, 141561194.
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Operacija 25. Susret sila Osovine u Jugoslaviji: pripadnici 2. (motociklističke) čete izviđačkog bataljona Telesne garde SS-a "Adolf Hitler" i 4. bersaljerskog puka sastaju se posle zajedničkog zauzimanja Struge na obali Ohridskog jezera, 11. aprila 1941. godine. Vest o ovom, danas zaboravljenom susretu sila Osovine objavljena je u mnogim novinama u ono vreme, širom sveta; tako se, na primer, u Rinu (Nevada), na naslovnoj strani "Rinovskog večernjeg lista", 12. aprila 1941. mogao pročitati sledeći tekst: "Italijanske trupe su udružile snage sa Nemcima na obali Ohridskog jezera u jugozapadnoj Jugoslaviji i 'lome svaki neprijateljski otpor' u stalnom napredovanju, javila je danas zvanična italijanska novinska agencija Stefani. 'Marš moćnih osovinskih vojski nastavlja se na svim frontovima', navodi se u Stefanijevom izveštaju iz jugoslovenske operativne zone. Novinska agencija je javila da su fašisti i nacisti snage udružili juče na pola puta između Struge i Ohrida, jugoslovenskih gradova na severoistočnoj obali jezera, kada su se vod italijanskih motociklista i bersaljerski puk sastali sa nemačkim motociklističkim vodom. Uzvici 'Hajl Hitler!' i 'Viva il duče!' obeležili su susret, javio je Stefani." Priloženu fotografiju je snimio, skoro simbolično, poznati književnik i novinar Kurcio Malaparte – koji je po ocu bio Nemac, a po majci Italijan. Posebno bizaran detalj na ovom retkom snimku jeste jugoslovenski vojnik u pozadini, pripadnik potučene Vardarske divizije, koji okupatore pozdravlja fašističkim pozdravom (u pitanju je, svakako, samo pripadnik jedne od prijateljski nastrojenih nacionalnih manjina, verovatno nemačke).
Tekst: Ivan Ž. / REG.
Fotograf: Kurcio Malaparte.
Datum: 11. april 1941.
Mesto: Struga, Jugoslavija.
Originalni natpis: nepoznat.
Izvor fajla: Mondadori Portfolio, AA326442 / Getty Images, 141561194.
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