28 Feb. 1946 A. I cannot state definitely when Italy was contacted, but it is my personal opinion that they were told about it sometime after the outbreak of hostilities. Q. My information is that the Japanese Ambassador in Italy called on Mussolini on the third of December and invoking the appropriate clause of the Tripartite Pact the Ambassador asked that Italy declare war on America, that is the United States, immediately after the outbreak of hostilities between Japan and the United States, and that the Ambassador proposed to Italy that Italy sign with Japan an agreement not to conclude a separate peace. A. All I know is that in the communication which I received there was no indication that the same dispatch had been sent to the Japanese Ambassador in Italy. Further, I recall that Alfieri, the Italian Ambassador to Berlin, when called in to sign the pact looked rather put out, as he had not heard about it until then. Q. Do you mean to tell us, General, that they invited the Italian Ambassador to Berlin to come into a room and sit down then and there and sign a treaty that he never heard of before? A. I do not mean he heard about it for the first time then at the signing of the pact, but I know that on the 10th when I asked Ribbentrop whether we should not inform the Italian Ambassador about it, he said not to worry and that he would look after it when the time came. I believe, of course, that Mussolini knew about it and had been consulted by phone, but it is my further belief that the Italian Ambassador in Berlin did not find out about it until very late in the proceedings, possibly on the night of the 9th or sometime during the 10th. Q. Did he find it out from Ribbentrop or from you? A. From Ribbentrop. Q. Now, General, let us suppose that you had been in the position of that Italian Ambassador and someone brought you in the night before the pact was to be signed or the day that it was to be signed, and said, “Ambassador, we have a treaty here that is going to tie your nation in a war and it is going to provide that you can’t make a separate peace in this war with the United States.” Would you sit down there and sign that treaty? A. The Ambassador alone could not make such a decision. The orders, of course, had come from Mussolini. Q. Do you know when he got his orders from Mussolini? A. I do not know that. I simply know that the Italian Ambassador to Berlin certainly received the news very late. It might be a little crude to put it so bluntly but in all dealings of the three countries Italy definitely played a secondary role and as long as Germany acceded to anything Italy would tag along dutifully. Q. General, did you talk with the Ambassador from Japan to Italy about this matter? A. No, never. Q. And are you telling us now that he had no idea of what was going on until after the treaty was signed? A. I do not know. I believe he might have had a communication from the Japanese Foreign Office to the effect that negotiations for this No Separate Peace Pact were going on in Germany, so be cognizant of that fact. 162