Croatia, Independent State. A Rare Award Document For A Military Order Of The Iron Trefoil To Brigadier General Antonio Cesaretti

A rare award document issued to Italian Generale di Brigata (Brigadier General) Antonio Cesaretti, constructed of off-white paper stock with multi-coloured ink, awarding the General with Military Order of the Iron Trefoil, III Class with Oak Leaves, in recognition of his leadership in liberating the population of the village Udbina on 14 December 1942 (according to records, both Serbian Chetniks and Yugoslav Partisans committed atrocities against Croatian residents of the village during this period), issued in Zagreb on 1 March 1943, featuring the handwritten signatures of Vitez (Knight) Vilko Begić (Minister of the Armed Forces and Secretary of State) and the Order Notary, set within a finely detailed border consisting of trefoils and Croatian Crosses and certified at the bottom with the embossed seal of Poglavnik Ante Pavelić, measuring 29 cm (w) x 37.5 cm (h), demonstrating creases consistent with folding into thirds, a scarce document in near extremely fine condition.

Footnote: A veteran of the First World War, Brigadier General Antonio Cesaretti held the Divisional Infantry Command of the Royal Italian Army’s 153rd "Macerata" Infantry Division. Engaged in brutal anti-Partisan warfare in Slovenia and Croatia between 1942 and 1943, the division was disbanded on 12 September 1943 as German forces subdued Italian units during Operation Achse.