Deine Papiere, bitte I (Your papers, please 1)

Today from the mail box I retrieved the newly-arrived autobiography, A Spy in Rome: The true story of Peter Tompkins, a young American smuggled into Rome by the OSS at the dangerous climax of the German Occupation. I'd been looking forward to reading this long out of print book for some time, but until a week ago had not gotten around to ordering it from one of the many purveyors of used books who frequent Amazon.com.



Early in the book. Peter mentioned the fake identity documents he took with him, "Once in Rome,...I intended to...make use of a secondary, less distinguished card, which I had sewed into the lining of my coat. Even in peacetime it was a prison offense in Italy to be without one's police identification; to be caught without one in wartime was tantamount to admitting one was a deserter, an enemy agent, or an escaped criminal."

Forza! Partigiani provides passable identity documents for its camerati to use during events, including a Kingdom of Italy Carta d'Identità, one or more Fascist party membership cards (to protect one's cover), and other suitable paperwork. All that's needed is:

• A portrait of yourself in period clothing
• Your Italian name and an address (preferably in Rome)
• Your demographic data (height, hair color, eye color, and parent's names)

We even have an authentic Fascist era date stamp, with the extra rolling bit that prints the year according to the Fascist Calendar.