WWII Propaganda Posters Found Behind Shop Window in Rome

A collection of World War II-era posters was discovered behind the display windows of a shoe shop at 292 Via Cola di Rienzo in Rome's Prati district, near the Vatican. The posters emerged during renovation work when the shop's external showcases were dismantled. Maria Isabella Safarik, an art history enthusiast, documented and shared the find on Instagram, calling for their preservation. The posters, in fair condition, include civil defense notices from the prefecture and the Provincial Committee for Anti-Aircraft Protection, a ministry of war body, instructing citizens to extinguish all lights at night in homes, shops, offices, cinemas, and hospitals to avoid aerial bombardment. Others feature propaganda for Maltese irredentism, a movement advocating the annexation of Malta from the British Empire to the Kingdom of Italy, portraying Maltese as 'thirsty for freedom' and victims of 'unjust persecutions' forced to speak English. One poster is anti-French, racially mocking the presence of Black colonial soldiers in the French army. The posters likely require intervention by the Soprintendenza, which prohibits removal of historical 'frescoes, coats of arms, graffiti, plaques, inscriptions' without authorization.