The Pittsburgh Press (May 5, 1945)
Italians warned to cease attacks
Friday, May 4, 1945
ROME, Italy (UP) – Italian patriots in Northern Italy had a sharp warning today from Gen. Mark W. Clark to stop interfering with the German surrender by attacks on enemy troops.
Gen. Clark’s order, broadcast by the Milan radio, told the patriots flatly they would undo whatever good they had done if their reprisals against Germans continued.
It was the second such warning the American commander had given the guerrilla forces.
The German officers who met with Clark yesterday to ask for instructions on surrendering their army make a big point of the guerrilla attacks, Gen. von Senger und Etterlin said Italian forces were still harassing the Germans in isolated mountain regions of the north.
The Nazi delegates were allowed to wear their sidearms as protection against Partisan attacks.
In a communiqué issued today, the Italian resistance movement claimed its members had taken over 35,000 prisoners in the victory offensive in the north.