How one of the most vile dictators of the twentieth century met his end. Audisio said he read out a sentence of death, whereas Lampredi omitted this. According to Lonati, he and "John" went to the De Maria farmhouse in the morning of 28 April and killed Mussolini and Petacci at about 11:00 a.m.[62][67] In 2004, the Italian state television channel, RAI, broadcast a documentary, co-produced by Tompkins, in which the theory was put forward. Eventually Mussolini was discovered slumped in one of the convoy vehicles. Last Days of Mussolini: | | | Mussolini: ultimo atto| -Last Days of Mussolini- ... World Heritage Encyclopedia, the aggregation of the largest online encyclopedias available, and the most definitive collection ever assembled. A US army cameraman took photographs of the bodies for publication, including one with Mussolini and Petacci positioned in a macabre pose as though they were arm-in-arm. Fearing that the Nazis would again try to liberate the dictator, the partisans hid the pair in a remote farmhouse for the night. He and his mistress, Claretta Petacci, were captured on 27 April by local partisans near the village of Dongo on Lake Como. [58][59][60], There have been several claims that Britain's wartime covert operations unit, the Special Operations Executive (SOE), was responsible for Mussolini's death, and that it may have even been ordered by the British prime minister, Winston Churchill. 3.7 out of 5 stars. One version of the subsequent report indicated that he had been shot with nine bullets, while another version specified seven bullets. Last Days of Mussolini Paperback – Import, January 1, 1966 by F. W. Deakin (Author) See all formats and editions Hide other formats and editions. DVD. In Audisio's account, Mussolini said nothing immediately prior to or during the execution. [35] However, the lack of a judge or a Commissario di Guerra (required by the ordinance to be present) casts doubt on this assertion. The generally accepted version of events is that Mussolini was shot by Walter Audisio, a communist partisan who used the nom de guerreof "Colonel Valerio". Mussolini was laid to rest in a large stone Sarcophagus. Fifteen partisans had been shot there in August 1944 in retaliation for partisan attacks and Allied bombing raids, and their bodies had then been left on public display. Allegedly, it was part of a "cover up" to retrieve "secret agreements" and compromising correspondence between the two men, which Mussolini was carrying when he was captured by partisans. All Rights Reserved. By July 1943, the Allied invasion of Sicily and bombing of Rome caused the Italian high command and King Victor Emmanuel III to remove Mussolini from power and place him under house arrest. Top 200 of all time 150 Essential Comedies. His tomb has become a place of pilgrimage for neo-fascists and the anniversary of his death is marked by neo-fascist rallies. This seven hour mini-series is based on the memories of Vittorio Mussolini, the oldest son of Italian dictator Benito Mussolini. The 61-year-old Italian dictator who sought to become a modern-day Julius Caesar had first risen to power more than two decades earlier when he became prime minister in 1922. [1] However, since the end of the war, the circumstances of Mussolini's death, and the identity of his killer, have been subjects of continuing confusion, dispute and controversy in Italy. Now, as the sun rose on the “Square of the Fifteen Martyrs,” residents of Milan had the chance to do the same thing, only this time for real. According to Bellini delle Stelle no other discussion or formalities concerning the decision to execute them took place.[34]. They hurled invectives and vegetables at the dictator’s corpse before kicking, beating and spitting upon it. [10], In any event, Longo instructed a communist partisan of the General Command, Walter Audisio, to go immediately to Dongo to carry out the order. Shop with confidence. This generally accepted version is often termed the "official version", nevertheless. At least twelve different individuals have, at various times, been claimed to be the killer. Publicité | By July 1943, the Allied invasion of Sicily and bombing of Rome caused the Italian high command and King Victor Emmanuel III to remove Mussolini from power and place him under house arrest. Then on April 20, 1945, he disbanded his government offices. After Lampredi's account was published, most, but not all, commentators were convinced of its veracity. Buchtitel: Mussolini: The Last 600 Days Of Il Duce. Movie footage of what happened appears to confirm that to be the case. Heimlieferung oder in Filiale: Moseley, R: The Last Days of Mussolini von Ray Moseley | Orell Füssli: Der Buchhändler Ihres Vertrauens The following day, the pair joined a convoy of fellow fascists and German soldiers heading north toward Lake Como and the border with Switzerland. Find great deals on eBay for last days mussolini. There were no objections to any of the proposed executions. [12], The partisans arrested Mussolini and took him to Dongo, where he spent part of the night in the local barracks. In early afternoon, American troops ordered the bodies to be taken down and Mussolini’s bullet-ridden corpse transported to the city morgue. [24] Although each of these accounts vary in detail, they are consistent on the main facts. Rated: PG. “Il Duce” allied himself with fellow fascist Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany in World War II, but his outdated Italian military was badly outclassed. [41], Their bodies were left in a heap, and by 9:00 a.m. a considerable crowd had gathered. Mussolini was laid to rest in a large stone sarcophagus. "John" took me outside and told me his orders were to eliminate them both, because Petacci knew many things. Paperback. The tribunal condemned Mussolini and Petacci to death. Audisio himself did not speak publicly about it until he published his account in a series of five articles in L'Unità later that month (and repeated in a book that Audisio later wrote which was published in 1975, two years after his death). Account & Lists Account Returns & Orders. However, the "official" explanation, with Audisio as Mussolini's executioner, remains the most credible narrative. Determined not to give his enemies the satisfaction of killing him or defiling his body, Hitler committed suicide on April 30 and had his corpse subsequently burned. Aside from Mussolini and Petacci, sixteen of the most prominent of them would be summarily shot in Dongo the following day and a further ten would be killed over two successive nights. 1959 Italian drama film directed by Carlo Lizzani. Mussolini and Petacci were executed the following afternoon, two days before Adolf Hitler's suicide. He must be handed over to a tribunal of the people so it can judge him quickly. [18], He also claimed that he had given the order as deputy prime minister of the government in Rome and as leader of the Communist Party. [10][66] Journalist Peter Tompkins claimed to have established that "John" was Robert Maccarrone, a British SOE agent who had Sicilian ancestry. [6], From mid-April Mussolini based himself in Milan, and he and his government took up residence in the city's Prefecture. Rod Steiger plays Mussolini, held captive by the rapidly retreating German troops but still not safe from Italian vendettas. With his stronghold of Milan teetering on the precipice, Mussolini agreed to meet with a delegation of partisans at the palace of Milan’s Cardinal Alfredo Schuster. [24], Before long, it was noted that there were discrepancies between Audisio's original story published in L'Unità, subsequent versions that he provided and the versions of events provided by others. The corpses were pelted with vegetables, spat at, urinated on, shot at and kicked; Mussolini's face was disfigured by beatings. By this point, Mussolini’s badly beaten body was barely recognizable, but a U.S. Army photographer still staged the bodies of the former dictator and his mistress in each other’s arms in a macabre pose. The documentary went on to claim that the later shootings at the Villa Belmonte were subsequently staged as part of the "cover up". [18] Longo subsequently gave a different story: he said that when he and Fermo Solari, a member of the Action Party (which was part of the CLNAI), heard the news of Mussolini's capture they immediately agreed that he should be summarily executed and Longo gave the order for it to be carried out. On 27 April 1945, Mussolini and his mistress Claretta Petacci, together with other fascist leaders, were travelling in a German convoy near the village of Dongo on the north western shore of Lake Como. A scene from the historical movie Last Days of Mussolini, with actors and walks-on wearing stage costumes; the actor Franco Nero performs the partisan Walter Audisio, also known as Colonel Valerio,... Erstklassige Nachrichtenbilder in hoher Auflösung bei Getty Images The whereabouts of the body was kept a secret, even from Mussolini's family. [27] Other versions of the story were also published, including, in the 1960s, two books setting out the "classical" account of the story: Dongo, la fine di Mussolini by Lazzaro and Bellini delle Stelle and Le ultime 95 ore di Mussolini by journalist Franco Bandini. In it, Lampredi confirmed the key facts of Audisio's story but without the embellishments. Mussolini's Italy: Life Under the Dictatorship, 1915-1945 Richard Bosworth. In 1945, the dictator of fascist Italy and Hitler's close ally Benito Mussolini faces defeat. The following day, Mussolini and Petacci were removed from the house and driven to the small village of Giulino di Mezzegra on the shores of Lake Como. Mussolini: The Last 600 Days of Il Duce: Moseley, Mr Ray: Amazon.sg: Books. [12] Lazzaro later said that: His face was like wax and his stare glassy, but somehow blind. Audisio presented Mussolini as acting in a cowardly manner immediately prior to his death whereas Lampredi did not. Capture and Execution of Mussolini Mussolini spent his last 7 days in power in Milan, which was the site of his rise to power. S eventy years ago on this day, April 28, 1945, the fascist dictator Benito Mussolini was executed after a failed attempt to flee Italy with his mistress. Execution of Mussolini in 1945 (Il Duce of Italy) - YouTube We want this, even though we think an execution platoon is too much of an honour for this man. Its location was hardly a secret, however, and anti-fascists made regular pilgrimages to the cemetery to desecrate his grave until Mussolini made a resurrection of sorts on Easter Sunday 1946 when Domenico Leccisi and fellow fascists dug up Il Duce’s body, washed it in a nearby fountain and pushed it in a wheelbarrow to a getaway car. 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