They are a valuable contribution to the story of the war.

Hitler: You were in Sicily?

Neurath: Yes, my Fuehrer, I was down there, and I spoke to General Roatta [Commander of the Italian Sixth Army in Sicily]. Among other things he told me that he did not have too much confidence in the defence of Sicily. He claimed that he is too weak, and that his troops are not properly equipped. Above all, he has only one motorised division; the rest are immobile. Every day the English do their best to shoot up the locomotives of the Sicilian railroads, for they know very well that it is almost impossible to bring up material to replace or repair them, or not possible at all. The impression I gained on the crossing from Giovanni to Messina was that almost all traffic on this short stretch is at a virtual standstill. Of the ferries there

— I think there were six — only one remains. This one was being treated as a museum piece; it was said that it was being saved for better purposes.

Hitler: What are the “better purposes”?

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Neurath: Well, my Fuehrer, sometimes the Italians explain, “When the war is over”; others say, “You never know what’s going to happen next.”

The German troops in Sicily have undoubtedly become rather unpopular. That can be explained very easily, because the Sicilians hold the view that we have brought the war to their country. First, we have eaten up everything they had, and now we are going to cause the English to come themselves, although — and I must emphasise this — the Sicilian peasant really wouldn’t mind that. He thinks that this will end his suffering. The general opinion all over Southern Italy is that the war will be over when the English come, and that the presence of the Germans just delays this.

Hitler: What is the Italian Government doing to counter this attitude?

Neurath: My Fuehrer, as far as I know the prefects and officials who are still around are not doing much about it. Whenever I directed their attention to it and complained that German soldiers were being cursed in the streets, I was told that they didn’t know what to do about it, since this represented the popular view. They said, “That’s how the people feel; you have made yourselves unpopular; you have requisitioned things and eaten up all our chickens.” But I do think that the officials could make more of an effort, and make examples of the more flagrant cases.

Hitler: They won’t take action?

Neurath: It is very difficult. They just won’t take action. The Sicilian temperament is different from the North Italian. But on the whole it is very unpleasant to see how they let things slide.

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The threat to Sicily from the enemy air is extremely strong.

The discussion then turned on the fidelity of General Roatta and other Italian leaders, and the increasingly difficult position of Mussolini. Altogether a very disquieting picture was presented to the Fuehrer.

In the channel between Tunisia and Sicily lay the small island of Pantelleria, which served as an enemy base for aircraft and E-boats. In January 1941 we had planned to assault and capture it, but the opportunity passed and it remained a thorn in our side throughout the hardest period of the siege of Malta. Now it became necessary, not only to subdue it, but to use it ourselves for our fighter aircraft.

Attacks by air and sea began immediately after the fall of Tunis. Bombardment continued until June 8, when unconditional surrender was demanded. This being refused, a landing from the sea was carried out on June 11, supported by heavy naval and air bombardment.