MUSSOLINI'S EXECUTION
0. MUSSOLINI'S EXECUTION - Story Preface
1. HITLER AND MUSSOLINI
2. PACT OF STEEL
3. CEPHALONIA
4. CAPTAIN CORELLI
5. THE MANDOLIN
6. TAKE NO PRISONERS
7. PRISONERS OR TRAITORS?
8. THE MASSACRE
9. MUSSOLINI'S EXECUTION
10. MORE TRAGEDY
11. CORELLI'S NAMESAKE and CONNECTION to ORPHEUS
Lake Como is one of Italy's most-scenic locations. In this image, we see Capello St. Angelo and a view of Bellagio, along Lake Como, as this area appeared sometime between circa 1890 and 1900. The illustration is from the Detroit Publishing Co., Catalogue J Foreign section, published (in Detroit) during 1905. Online via the Library of Congress. Click on the image for a better view. After German troops freed Mussolini from house arrest on September 12, 1943, the former dictator set up a Fascist Republic in Northern Italy. (Historians record it was essentially a German puppet government.) Largely discredited and in poor health, he never regained his prestige and power. As the Allies closed in on Milan during April of 1945, Mussolini's stronghold was vulnerable. Fearing capture, he planned his escape to Switzerland. After he called his wife (Rachele Mussolini) to tell her he was leaving the country, he joined a German convoy headed for the Swiss border. With him was his long-time mistress Claretta Petacci. Vaguely disguised with a German helmet and great coat, Mussolini drove his own vehicle. On April 27th, he was recognized by an Italian partisan (Urbano Lazzaro) in the town of Dongo, on Lake Como. They had nearly reached the border. Mussolini and Claretta were arrested and held at the Villa Manzi (today the county seat). The next day, after a "trial," both were executed in the Lake Como town of Mezzegra. As the former head of state stood against a wall, the partisan leader read the death sentence. It is said that Walter Audisio shot the condemned man with a French MAS 7.65 after the machine gun, earmarked for the job, failed to fire. The executions made news around the world. What happened to the bodies is infamous to this day. Driven fifty miles south of Mezzegra, the remains of the former dictator, his mistress, and several of his henchmen were hanged by their feet in Milan's Piazza Loreto on April 29, 1945. After so many years of controlling the politics of Italy, Il Duce was finally at the mercy of the people he had brutalized. Word of Mussolini's demise, and the public desecration of his body, reached Hitler. As the Red Army moved closer to his bunker, Hitler surveyed the damage in Berlin. He knew his situation was hopeless. Wishing to spare himself and his own mistress, Eva Braun, from a similar fate, the Fuhrer married Eva and then had her take poison. Before he killed himself, he gave explicit instructions to his aides to completely burn their bodies. The day after crowds had gathered in the Piazza Loreto, Hitler was dead. As the war in Europe ended, fighting in Cephalonia (and the rest of Greece) continued. The country was in the midst of civil war.
See Alignments to State and Common Core standards for this story online at: http://www.awesomestories.com/asset/AcademicAlignment/MUSSOLINI-S-EXECUTION-Captain-Corelli-s-Mandolin See Learning Tasks for this story online at: http://www.awesomestories.com/asset/AcademicActivities/MUSSOLINI-S-EXECUTION-Captain-Corelli-s-Mandolin Media Stream
Rachele Mussolini - Wife of Benito Mussolini Article, depicted above, from the August 31, 2001 edition of Quotidiano Nazionale.
Quoted passages from LIFE magazine's February 11, 1966 edition. View this asset at: http://www.awesomestories.com/asset/view/Rachele-Mussolini-Wife-of-Benito-Mussolini
Claretta Petacci Image of Claretta Petacci. PD View this asset at: http://www.awesomestories.com/asset/view/Claretta-Petacci
Dongo - Italian Village - Mussolini Detained Photo by Marco Fontana, copyright Marco Fontana, all rights reserved. Image provided here as fair use for educational purposes. For more beautiful photos of Italian scenery, visit Marco Fontana's PhotoStream at Flickr. View this asset at: http://www.awesomestories.com/asset/view/Dongo-Italian-Village-Mussolini-Detained
Dongo - Near the Italian-Swiss Border Image online, courtesy Google Maps. View this asset at: http://www.awesomestories.com/asset/view/Dongo-Near-the-Italian-Swiss-Border
Lake Como Image online, courtesy Wikimedia Commons. PD View this asset at: http://www.awesomestories.com/asset/view/Lake-Como
Mussolini and Claretta Under Arrest Image online, Italian-language website. PD View this asset at: http://www.awesomestories.com/asset/view/Mussolini-and-Claretta-Under-Arrest Mussolini is Executed Image online, courtesy Veterans Today website. View this asset at: http://www.awesomestories.com/asset/view/Mussolini-is-Executed
Aerial View of Lake Como at Mezzegra Image online, courtesy Summer in Italy. PD View this asset at: http://www.awesomestories.com/asset/view/Aerial-View-of-Lake-Como-at-Mezzegra
Map Depicting Mezzegra Image online, courtesy Wikimedia Commons. PD View this asset at: http://www.awesomestories.com/asset/view/Map-Depicting-Mezzegra
Walter Audisio Image online, courtesy The Beret Project website. View this asset at: http://www.awesomestories.com/asset/view/Walter-Audisio
Aerial View of Dongo Image online, courtesy Wikimedia Commons. PD View this asset at: http://www.awesomestories.com/asset/view/Aerial-View-of-Dongo Villa Manzi - Mussolini Image online, courtesy the Tourist Guides for Lake Como website. PD View this asset at: http://www.awesomestories.com/asset/view/Villa-Manzi-Mussolini
Corpse of Mussolini - April, 1945 Image online, courtesy Wikimedia Commons. PD View this asset at: http://www.awesomestories.com/asset/view/Corpse-of-Mussolini-April-1945
Mussolini Hung by His Feet at the Piazza Loreto in Milan Image online, courtesy Wikimedia Commons. PD View this asset at: http://www.awesomestories.com/asset/view/Mussolini-Hung-by-His-Feet-at-the-Piazza-Loreto-in-Milan
Milan's Piazza Loreto Image online, courtesy Wikimedia Commons. PD View this asset at: http://www.awesomestories.com/asset/view/Milan-s-Piazza-Loreto
Mussolini Among the Dead Image online, courtesy Wikimedia Commons. PD View this asset at: http://www.awesomestories.com/asset/view/Mussolini-Among-the-Dead
Inside Hitler's Bunker: Last Days of the Third Riech Image online, courtesy amazon.com website. View this asset at: http://www.awesomestories.com/asset/view/Inside-Hitler-s-Bunker-Last-Days-of-the-Third-Riech Until the Final Hour: Hitler's Last Secretary Image online, courtesy amazon.com website. View this asset at: http://www.awesomestories.com/asset/view/Until-the-Final-Hour-Hitler-s-Last-Secretary
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