In an online auction you will find original letters by Alfiero Spinelli. 40-year-old in trouble reported for receiving stolen goods

Twenty-one original documents recovered by the Carabinieri of Udine. Among the correspondence also a text signed by Aldo Moro

TRIESTE – Twenty-one original and unpublished documents from the correspondence of Altiero Spinelli with the institutions in the 1970s, including a rare typewritten letter signed and autographed by the then Foreign Minister, Aldo Moro, stolen from unknown places and times and ended up as collector’s memorabilia in the online auction circle. The documents were traced and seized by the Carabinieri of the cultural heritage protection unit of Florence and Udine, who yesterday delivered them to the Historical Archive of the European Union of Villa Salviati in Florence.

This was announced in a note by the provincial command of the Carabinieri of Udine, highlighting that the investigation began in 2021 with the discovery in an online auction by the military of Florence, precisely from Moro’s letter to Spinelli, considered one of the founding fathers of the European Union, author in ’41 of the ‘Ventotene Manifesto’ written, with Ernesto Rossi and Eugenio Colorni, during his confinement.

“Original, unpublished letters relating to the Spinelli Fund”
Dieter Schlenker, director of the Historical Archives of the EU

The reconstruction of the sales channel led the Carabinieri to the seller, a forty-year-old resident in Pordenone, whose home was searched, bringing to light other similar documentation, all belonging to correspondence connected to Spinelli with ministries and other public bodies, with particular regard to its functions carried out in the context of what was still the European Economic Community.
The seller, very cooperative as highlighted by the military, declared himself passionate about autographed letters claiming to have purchased them through and -commerce and in second-hand markets. In addition to the seizure of the documents, the man was therefore charged with the crime of receiving stolen goods.
The civil code establishes, in fact, thatthe archives and documents of public bodies are subject to the regime of public property and, therefore, are inalienable. Consequently, these documents fall within the regulatory provisions of cultural assets belonging to the State or public bodies, as highlighted in the note.
The director of the Historical Archives of the EU has confirmed that the documents are original, unpublished and pertaining to the Spinelli Fund, restricted by the recognition of historical and cultural interest, where all the documents and correspondence with the offices of the European institutions 30 years after they were produced. In addition to the documents attributable to Spinelli, 5 other letters were seized which concerned discussions with the Municipality of Treviso and with some military commands in the area. These state documents are intended to be delivered to the Archival and Bibliographic Superintendency of the Veneto in Venice, concludes the note.