So apparently Willy Rosenfelder was a representative for Bosch in Italy, and cofounded the STAL aircraft company which initially stood foor Studi Tecnici Aeronautici Littoria, then changed to Studi Tecnici Apparati Leggeri because a 1934 law prohibited political names.
Also from his name I guess he was jewish, but may have been Fascist if he accepted to take part in the foundation of a company with such a political name, so he may have been spared from the racial laws (a third of italian jews were exempt from racial laws because they were Fascist or had adopted Christianity etc... Despite the name the laws weren't much racial but more spiritual... Many german jews found refuge in Italy...).
So I'd like to know more about him
From memory alone, Willy Rosenfelder was Italian (born in Sicily, IIRC). He had some formal association with the Politecnico di Torino. There,
dott. Rosenfelder designed a range of low-aspect ratio winged lightplanes (leading to the S.T.A.L. 11). Alas, I was never able to establish the
exact nature of the connection between Politecnico di Torino and Rosenfelder.
Along with Studi Tecnici Aeronautici Littoria and Studi Tecnici Apparati Leggeri as names for S.T.A.L., I have also seen Studi Tecnici Apparecchi Leggeri given.
'Willy Rosenfelder' is a common enough name for German Jews (see Holocaust records). But, if S.T.A.L.'s Willy Rosenfelder is the same man as the Marelli-Bosch representative Wilhelm Rosenfelder, then he was not Jewish. The following is from an OSS translation of the 1944 note-books of SS-
Obersturmführer Guido Zimmer, head of Abt. VI,
Aussenkommando Milan (emphasis mine):
Subject: Wilhelm 'ROSENFELDER, 1 Turin. FIAT MIRAFIOIE-MABO (Marelli-Bosch), Via Amerigo Vespucci, 52.
385. The a/m has been assigned by the Reich to the FIAT automobile plants as technical manager. He has been collaborating with the S.D. for a long time. (He is completely Aryan).
386. On 1 June 44 a meeting was arranged with ROSEFELDER [sic] to take him into the technical intelligence service. He regretted that he had not been working with the IS all this time. For private reasons (and probably also in the interest of the BOSCH firm) he is informed on all new developments in the electrotechnical and motor-construction field. Consequently he has not only given us his worthy promise of collaboration, but he has made three denunciations in this field. Furthermore, he stated that he was ready to order the production manager of LANCIA to work exclusively for our interest (see SOLA proposal).
387. The alias of "STAHL" [1] has been adopted for ROSENFELDER. Collaboration and transmittal of information at A.R.T. is rapidly developing.
389. At that time SOLA received many offers, particularly from FIAT. SOLA felt that if he went over to FIAT, which is the main competitor of LANCIA, he would have been betraying his dead employer. He decided to remain [at Lancia] and try to do things his own way; he occasionally runs into difficulties.
390. Our agent (highly trusted) STAHL has known him [SOLA] for a long time as representative of the Bosch firm. Besides this business relationship, a personal friendship has developed between the two. Our agent suggests the following:
We should pay 10,000 lire monthly; in return SOLA will give our agent immediately all information on new inventions and techniques.
Our agent [Wilhelm Rosenfelder] will give SOLA any orders for production. [...]
Obersturmfuehrer Z(IMMER) told him that all new inventions were to be forwarded to the special department of Amt VI, [sic] [2] where they would be immediately examined and if suitable would be immediately exploited...
Postwar, I see a 17 November 1954 notice in the
Gazzetta Ufficiale della Repubblica Italiana of an exequatur grant approved for
sig. Willy Rosenfelder as Honorary Consul for the BRD in Turin. Unfortunately, I have no way of knowing whether this was S.T.A.L.'s Willy Rosenfelder,
Ostuf Zimmer's agent
STAHL, or some entirely different 'Willy Rosenfelder'.
_________________________________
[1] That
Stahl codename was an indiscreet choice if Wilhelm Rosenfelder had, indeed, also been the designer/co-founder/VP of the S.T.A.L. enterprise!
[2] OSS translations regularly confused
Amt (Office) with the German abbreviation Abt. (
Abteilung) or military department.
