At 11 am. the official procession entered the room, headed by Herr Joachim von Ribbentrop and Count Ciano. They were followed by the leaders of the German army, the National-Socialist Party, and about one hundred German and Italien diplomats and high civil servants. A number of journalists were present for the ceremony.
Herr von Ribbentrop left for a few moments to get Herr Hitler, who was working in his study.
The two men appeared at 11.06 am. the Fuehrer sitting in the armchair between the two Foreign Ministers. Four minutes later the cere-many was concluded.
Herr Hitler, who appeared deeply moved, shook hands with Herr von Ribbentrop and Count Ciano. He decorated the latter with the Gold Medal of the Order of the Great German Eagle, the highest award ever bestowed by the Fuehrer.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.