On April 26, 1945, Benito Mussolini, a fascist in Italy during World War II, was cornered by the Communists in northern Italy. The day before, On 25 April, Mussolini had finally seen the truth that Hitler's regime was about to fall into the hands of the Allies. Although Mussolini tried to disguise himself as a German officer to flee the country, he was killed and desecrated at a gas station in Milan.
A photograph of Mussolini's final fate chronicles an entire day of anger vented at the reviled leader. Although he was dead when his body was thrown into The Central Square of Milan, this did not stop people from beating and spitting on his body. The bodies of Benito Mussolini and his mistress, Clara Petacci, as well as 14 other fascists, were beaten beyond recognition and hung above a gas station.
However, Mussolini's fate was in the hands of the Italian partisans, and it was not the first time that Italians had expressed their dissatisfaction with Mussolini. Although Mussolini was democratically elected in 1922, he only pretended to respect this form of governance for a short time, and within five years Mussolini had established a dictatorship in Italy. When he allied with Germany on the eve of World War II, the Italians were less satisfied with his choice. In 1943, he was even arrested and imprisoned by the Italian government, however, Hitler's army saved him. From then on, he ruled the Italian Social Republic, a German puppet state in northern Italy, until his brutal death in April 1945.
People started stoning corpses, and it was all photographed
After capturing Mussolini and Petacci, the guerrillas hid them in a remote farmhouse in northern Italy for the night. From there, they took them again to a village near Lake Como, where they were placed in front of a stone wall and executed.
The bodies of Mussolini, Petacci and 14 others were then transported to a central square in Milan, where crowds were waiting for an opportunity to vent their anger. There was a video taken by someone at the time showing what happened in the square that day (the video can be obtained from me). The bodies were stoned, beaten, smashed with vegetables, and even used as target exercises, and finally hung at a gas station on the side of the plaza. By the last day, when Mussolini's body was finally taken to the morgue, it was beyond recognition.
Mussolini and Petacci were executed in front of this wall before being hoisted in Piazza milan
Mussolini was not alone, and his mistress, Clara Petalage, suffered the same fate
Those associated with the abominable dictator rarely have a happy ending — a lesson learned by Clara Petacci, one of Mussolini's many mistresses, on the morning of April 27. Although she herself was only Mussolini's lover, people did not care. She was killed, hanging next to her lover.
Mussolini's face was beaten beyond recognition that day
The photographs document the way Mussolini decided to divide Italy during World War II
Before Mussolini gave up all democratic disguises, he was elected true leader of democracy in 1922
In 1943, Italian soldiers were captured in Corfu, Greece
Mussolini was arrested by his own government in 1943 until Hitler's army freed him
Mussolini was arrested and killed when he was trying to flee to Switzerland
In April 1945, Mussolini and his mistress Clara Pettage were captured by Communists while trying to escape Italy. World War II was over, his control over Italy was forcibly lifted by forces from the south, and his vision of a new Roman Empire would never come to fruition. In the palace of Milan Cardinal Alfredo Schuster, Mussolini learned that the armies of the Third Reich were negotiating surrender, and that the puppet state of northern Italy, which Mussolini nominally ruled, would cease to exist.
So, on 26 April, he and his mistress, Clara Petalach, boarded the 1939 Alpha Romeo he had bought her and, disguised as Mussolini, sped off to the Swiss border. Although he was wearing a uniform, he was captured by communists a day later. In Italy, no amount of disguise can obscure the most recognizable face — a face that has been hanging on posters across the country for nearly two decades.
In 1943, northern Italy became an independent fascist state, where Mussolini recruited troops
This rare photograph provides a different perspective to appreciate the hanging
Mussolini ruled from 1922 to 1945, and his fall was significant