Princess Mafalda of Savoy
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Princess Mafalda Maria Elisabetta Anna Romana of Savoy (November 2, 1902 – August 27, 1944) was the second child of King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy and of his wife Princess Elena Nikolaievna of Montenegro.
[edit] Biography
Mafalda was born in Rome. In childhood she was close to her mother, from whom she inherited a love for music and the arts. During World War I she accompanied her mother, Queen Elena (known Elena of Montenegro), during her visits to Italian military hospitals.
On September 23, 1925, at Racconigi Castle, she married Philip of Hesse, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel.
Mafalda's husband was a Nazi party loyalist. His brother Christoph was part of the Nazi hierarchy and was married to Princess Sophie of Greece and Denmark, sister to Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh the husband of Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain.
The Marriage between Princess Mafalda and a Nazi supporter resulted in her husband being in a position to act as intermediary between the Nazis in Germany and the Fascist regime in Italy. However, during World War II Hitler believed Princess Mafalda was working against the Nazis, referring to her as the "blackest carrion in the Italian royal house."
In early September of 1943, Princess Mafalda traveled to Bulgaria to attend the funeral of her brother-in-law, King Boris III. While there, she was informed of Italy's surrender to the allies and that her husband was being held in Bavaria while her children had been given sanctuary in the Vatican. The Gestapo ordered her arrest, and on September 23 she received a telephone call from Karl Hass at the German High Command who informed her there was an important message from her husband. On her arrival at the German embassy she was arrested, ostensibly for subversive activities, but more as a threat to keep her father, the king of Italy, in line. Princess Mafalda was transported to Munich for questioning, then to Berlin and was finally deported to Buchenwald concentration camp.
On August 24, 1944 an ammunitions factory inside Buchenwald was bombed by the Allies. Some four hundred prisoners were killed and Princess Mafalda was seriously wounded. She had been housed in a unit adjacent to the bombed factory and when the attack occured she was buried up to her neck in debris and severly burned on her arm. The appalling conditions of the slave camp caused her arm to become infected and the medical staff at the facility performed an amputation. She bled profusely during the operation and never regained consciousness. She died during the night of August 26-27, 1944.
The Royal family were not notified of her death although rumors began to circulate towards the end of 1944. Her death was not confirmed until after the Allies liberated Germany in 1945.
In 1997, the Italian government honored Princess Mafalda with her image on a postal stamp.
[edit] Children
Mafalda and Philip of Hesse had the following children:
