American troops in front to Rome Area Command, in the Assicurazioni Generali Venezia’s Palace on Piazza Venezia, Rome, June 1944. Note the white helmets of MP, the American Military Police. In background the Victor Emmanuel II Monument. On the far side of Piazza Venezia is the Palazzo Venezia. The Allied troops entered in Rome on 4 June 1944. Victor Sierra

Rome Area Command

A crowd reads newspaper headlines, &quot;Bombs Rain On Warsaw&quot; as they stand outside the U.S. State Department building where diplomats held a conference on war conditions in Europe, on September 1, 1939.

Big news

Allied military vehicles in Rome in front of Palazzo Venezia, the former headquarters of Duce Benito Mussolini. Note the famous “Balcone” (balcony), used by Duce for his address to the mass and, 10 June 1940, for announcing the declaration of war from Italy to France and Great Britain, barred. Today Palazzo Venezia, built between 1455 and 1467 for the Venetian Cardinal Pietro Barbo, afterwards Pope Paul II, and for centuries embassy of Venice’s Republic (from where the name Palazzo Venezia, Venice Palace), host a museum (Museo Nazionale di Palazzo Venezia) and art exhibitions. Victor Sierra