ABSTRACT
Beginning in mid-November 1939, a great many resettlement transports began arriving in Innsbruck. In January 1940, Mussolini was assured that, on average, 200 to 250 South Tyroleans were emigrating each day. It was taken for granted that the final decision on the contiguous area of settlement would soon be made. After twenty years of Fascist rule, the long-awaited day of liberation seemed to have arrived. Nevertheless, the hoped-for official annexation of South Tyrol to the German Reich and thus the reunification of Tyrol did not materialize. It was part of Mussolin's new Repubblica Sociale di Salo, the existence of which depended on the grace of Berlin. Hitler showed consideration for Mussolini, who had been freed by German paratroopers on 12 September 1943. There was little resistance against National Socialism by the South Tyroleans, which was thoroughly understandable since, after all, they had nothing against German rule, though there was indeed opposition to Nazi ideology.
