War on the Sons of Italy

(CONTINUED)  This event should be recalled, not just for its historical value alone, but mainly as a 21st-century alert to guard ourselves against the likelihood of similar leadership by madmen.   THE "PHANTOM ARMY" OF LWÓW.    AN ENTIRE DIVISION OF ABOUT 2000 ITALIAN   SOLDIERS WHO WERE NEVER IN COMBAT   BUT, THEY NEVER CAME HOME !!  This is one of many indignities suffered by the Italian nation in 1943. A dishonor that had not been resolved to this day. An outrageous humiliation which had resulted from the fall of Fascism and the surrender of Italy's Monarchy. The articles below describe the workings of this unspeakable controversy: The evidence - the witnesses - the circumstantial facts - corroborating authorities - opposing authorities - varied reasoning - arguments - and rationalizations of the matter. Three-quarters of a century full of confusion, explanations and denials, EVERYTHING BUT UNCOVERING THE MYSTERY OF 2000 ITALIAN SOLDIERS WHO VANISHED FROM LWÓW AFTER SEPT 1943 - Failing also to provide answers about many other missing Italian units which were scattered in the Third Reich, when Italy had been coerced to declare war on her own sons!  The articles are digital translations from Italian to English CLICK FOR LARGE VIEW CLICK FOR LARGE VIEW CLICK FOR LARGE VIEW Note the blue 'question mark' which I placed in the above article. It identifies some of the ignorance which had plagued this controversy. Specifically, my 'question mark' points to the assertion that "there was no armed resistance in Lwów" !!   HOW ABSURD !! The Partisans of Lwów fought and resisted against 4 separate occupations during WWII - The Germans and the Russians occupied Lwów two times each, directly one after the other - total 4 times!  Many 'Home Army' AK Partisans sacrificed themselves to protect Lwów and Poland's Eastern Borderlands, their beloved Kresy.    The photo below shows 21 resistance fighters of Lwów - and there were many more!   They upheld heroic resistance and fought two vicious enemies in four consecutive phases:  1) In Sept 1939 their first enemy came from the west.  2) Then, little more than 2 weeks later another one, more vicious than the first, came from the east! 3) He left 18 months later when the first one came back from the west, more arrogant than before - 4) Then about 3 years later the beast from the east came back ...  ... and he didn't let go until 1989!  Likewise, the spirit of Lwów's AK Partisans didn't let go either! Today the spirit of Armia Krajowa lives ... on the internet! CLICK FOR LARGE VIEW CLICK FOR LARGE VIEW The article above identifies the Cold War as a critical factor for lack of information related to Italy's missing 'Phantom Division' of Lwów. Three years prior to Stalin's Iron Curtain, the AK Home Army fought Soviet troops in the streets of Lwów, 23-27 July 1944. Two days later, Lwów came under Soviet domination once again and for the next 45-years Lwów and all of Poland remained captive ... ... in the grip of Communist Bolsheviks.   It had been 45-years of highly censured control by the Soviet Union, during which very little information had been shared with the west. The lack of Soviet cooperation, however, did not assign culpability for Italy's 'Phantom Division' on the Russians. The primary suspect continued to be Lwów's Wehrmacht unit to which ... ... Italy's 'lost Division' had been attached.   But, soon after the war, Italians had neither sovereign recognition to request an investigation, nor any authority to conduct one themselves. Also, steady break-down of diplomacy between east and west Berlin postponed the likelihood for an investigation in Soviet-held Lwów.   Later, Stalin's infamous Iron Curtain completely shut-off the possibility of finding any traces of Italy's 'Phantom Division' in Lwów.    While fighting in the Italian campaign, General Władysław Anders and his brave Polish 2nd Corps often doubted the 'friendly promises' made to them by Winston Churchill. General Anders had never trusted Stalin as being one of the "Big3" who would supposedly liberate Poland. Stalin's Soviet armies, he reasoned, had been fighting Germany from the east, with no oversight by Anglo-America. As late as 1944, however, the Anglo-Americans still had faith in their alliance with the Soviet leader.  In July of that year Roosevelt and Churchill should've taken notice of Stalin's false cooperation in the war, when his Soviet forces fought the AK Home Army in the streets of Lwów!  Also, they should've noticed that the following month, August 1944, Stalin had already restored his previous Bolshevik oppression, without delay! The short excerpt below is from "WWII Behind Closed Doors" by renown BBC Historian Laurence Rees. King George VI of Great Britain is seated at dinner with Winston Churchill and General Władysław Anders in Perugia Italy. When the Polish 2nd Corps Regimantal band played their very fashionable song titled "Only in Lwów," the King found its tune to be quite pleasant.   Unbeknown to them and to all Polish 2nd Corps troops, only a few days later the USSR would take possession of Lwów and keep it for the next 45 years. During the 1930s "Only in Lwów" had been used in the soundtrack of a very popular comedy film titled "The Tramp" which depicts the concept of abundant happiness living in Lwów.  King George liked the tune, but only General Anders knew that the significance of that song gave his 2nd Corps troops the incentive and ... ... the reason for which they had been fighting. Below are two 'YouTube' links of the popular tune "Only in Lwów" which had pleased King George VI.  Both are short pleasant videos. The first is a segment from Lwów's popular comedy-film "The Tramp." The other is a formal recording by "Waltz from Poland" and its video contains images of Lwów just like General Wladyslaw Anders and his valiant troops remembered the city. "The Tramp" - Wlóczegi - Tylko we Lwowie Waltz from Poland: Tylko we Lwowie - Only In Lwów!