The Last Days of Benito Mussolini -- The Reader's Digest, October 1944, Part 2

From Part 1, the Grand Council is meeting, under the threat of death from Mussolini's elite Fascist troops, at the Palazzo Venetia, to discuss Mussonlini's removal from office.

From Part 1, the last paragraph:

"Farinacci, one time secretary of the Fascist Party, defended the Duce, and in a long speech praising Hitler and Germany, asked the Council to vote its allegiance. Then Scorza, secretary of the Party, introduced a vote of confidence for Mussolini. It declared that all who opposed the dictatorship and the war were subject to the charge of treason."

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The Last Days of Benito Mussolini - The Reader's Digest, October 1944, by George Kent

"Yes, it was treason, shouted Farinacci, and asked punishment for all who had a "democratic mentality." Galbiati, who commanded the militia, said, "My troops will know how to deal with you who have raised your voices tonight." And Tringari Casanova, the prosecutor, shouted, "Remember, you are playing with your heads!"

The meeting was now swinging in Mussolini's direction. But no smile crossed his face as he went on, endlessly playing with his pencil. Three members who had previously indicated their approval of Grandi arose to say they had been mistaken.

It was now 4 o'clock in the morning. The room was filled with a low-pitched, murderous excitement. From below came the thud of gun butts struck against cobbles as guards were being relieved. Anything might happen.

Grandi, weary but his head held so high tht this black beard pointed straight at Mussolini, arose and stood for a moment in silence. Then he said, "We don't care what happens to us. It is our solemn duty to see that this motion is acted upon. Votare !"

Pareschi, the Minister of Agriculture, fainted. He came to, weeping, and saying, "It's horrible, these attacks on il Duce ." Later he voted with Grandi, and was executed.

Mussolini, staring into Grandi's eyes, spoke in a strangely dry, menacing voice. "The King will support me in all that I have done," he said. "When I tell him what happened tonight, he will say, 'They have betrayed you'."

( King Victor Emmanuel III of Savoy, pictured at left. Except that pictures aren't posting. I'll try to add it somewhere or sometime later. )

Grandi, implacable, arose again, "Let us vote," he said. " Va bene ," said il Duce. "Very well."

The voting began. Each man arose and spoke his vote aloud. The first, Scorza, said in a clear voice, "No." Then, he sat down, and as Secretary of the Party, began recording the votes. The President of the Senate was next. He said, "I abstain." Old De Bono, who hated the Duce, got up stiffly and said, "I vote yes." Grandi followed. Then Bottai stood to utter another yes.

The evening's debate had been largely among a dozen men. The others had listened silently; their votes would decide the outcome. The room was stark with suspense. One man, in telling me the story, said, "At that moment, I wasn't tired any more -- I just burned with a fever to know the outcome."

Most of the silent ones voted for the Grandi motion. At last it was over. The count was 19 to 7. Mussolini was finished. The Duce arose from his throne slowly and without a word or a glance walked with stiff strides to the end of the long room, and vanished through the door.

This was not quite the end. Grandi produced two copies of his motion and asked all who had voted yes to affix their signatures. One copy, he left for Mussolini, the other he put in his pocket. The meeting was over. At this point, in the past, Council members had arisen and given the Fascist salute. This time, there was no salute; the men pased out of the room in silence.

The Musketeers of the Duce let them go by.

In the yard, it was light. It was Sunday morning and a bell was tolling. The Musketeers watched them come out, and the members of the Council must have shuddered as they turned their backs to climb into the waiting automobiles.

"Young fellow, you'll pay in blood for tonight's work," were Casanova's parting words to Ciano.

Grandi went to inform the chief of the King's household what had happened, giving him a copy of the signed document for His Majesty.

Mussolini started his last day distributing prizes at an agricultural school ceremony, attempting to create a "business as usual" atmosphere.

In the palace, the King waited for Mussolini to appear of his own accord. At five o'clock, when il Duce had failed to come, the King sent for him. Mussolini began talking of plans for the future. The King said, "The Council has voted. You no longer have a share in Italy's future. I will accept your resignation." Mussolini stormed out, asking a porter at the door, "Where's my car?" Then an ambulance drove up and carried him off. The fallen dictator left Rome for all time.

That Mussolini failed to order his Musketeers to kill Grandi and the others is one of those curious facts which crop up to change the course of history. Undoubtedly the answer is that years ago, when his strong-arm boys had slainMatteotti, the Duce had nearlylost his office. Since then, he had been careful to performassassinationslegally. He may also have believed the King, who had always supported him, would disregard the vote of the Grand Council.

When, later, Mussolini realized his error, his Extraordinary Fascist Court at Verona condemned 18 Council member to death and sentenced another to 30 years in prison.

Ciano, De Bono, Pareschi, and two others have been executed. The rest are fugitives, hiding in German-occupied Italy or in neutral or Allied country. All are being hunted, and the North Italian radio warns them weekly that they will not escape Fascist vengeance. Grand has shaved off his beard and adopted another name, because four attempts have been made on his life. His estates have been confiscated and all other sources of income stopped. He now lives in poverty. "But I am satisfied," he said. "That meeting of the Council was the last act of my political life."

The rest of the story has been told by the newspapers. Mussolini was shifted from place to place until the Germans rescued him. Marshall Badoglio, instead of immediately speaking for peace, announced, "The war continues." Six precious weeks were lost in negotiations, giving the Germans time to pour in reinforcements.

That does not detract from the drama of that historic meeting when men dared to look a dictator in the eye and order him to get out."

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From the Brief History of Mussolini and the Fascists in WW2 :

On 3rd September, British 8th Army landed at the tip of the "boot" of Italy, followed by a US 5th Army landing at Salerno the 9th. The Badoglio government had been in negotiating with the Allies on an honorable surrender that would allow them to join the Allies. The British did not want anything but an unconditional surrender as a defeated enemy. There was even secret discusstion of dropping the US 82nd Airborne Division into Rome in order to ensure the capitol would not fall into German hands. The day before the landings at Salerno, the Badoglio government announced an unconditional surrender. The German response was Operation ASCHE that aggressively disarmed all the Italian army. Badoglio immediately fled the capitol and the Germans occupied it as an open city.

The new Italian government tried to exile the ex-dictator to the island of Ponza. Later, they moved him to the Gran Sasso mountain fortress. Hitler called for SS-General Otto Skorzeny to make a daring raid to rescue Mussolini from the fortress and return him to Germany. Eventually Mussolini was set-up as the new commander of the new Salo Republic on 28 October 1943, exactly 19 years from the time he first came to power. His new residence was the Villa Feltrinelli located in Gargnano on the western shore of Lake Garda where he was under the guard of the Germans. Clara Petacci resided in the Villa Fiodaliso at Gardone Riviera.

For the next 18 months, Mussolini powers were totatally under the control of the German command. He made very few public appearances or speeches. Mussolini had a government but nothing to govern. The Germans began rounding up men for their labor camps. The provinces of Trieste, Bolzano and other regions taken from Austria in WW1, was occupied as "enemy territory". Any Italian soldiers found in those "operational zones" were sent to Germany as prisoners of war. The reaction to this force was the creation of partisan groups all over northern Italy.

On January 8, 1944, Ciano and five other of the "traitors" were put on trial for conspiracy for their actions at the Grand Council vote. Hitler wanted vengence from the puppet government for Italy's breaking of their treaty but his main focus was on "that anti-German, Ciano". Mussolini thought the trail would help unify the Fascist party but he was torn by family ties. His wife, Rachele , even favored the trial because she could not forgive her son for voting Mussolini out of office. The six were found guilty and condemned to death: Emilio de Bono, Carlo Pareschi, Tullio Cianetti, Luciano Gottardi and Giovanni Marinelli, who was deaf. They were taken to a shooting range at Forte San Porcolo , a suburb of Verona . The condemned were seated in chairs with their backs to a German firing squad. The execution was a family tragedy. In Rome, the men were regarded as martyrs; Ciano was praised as a hero. Mussolini was pictured as a butcher. However, Count Ciano had the last word. He compiled his journal that he had kept since 1939 and with the help of his wife, Edna, ---yes, Mussolini's own daughter----was able to smuggle them out to the free press.

Mussolini requested a talk with Hitler to discuss the expansion of the Salo Republic 's authority. He met Hitler on April, 22, 1944 and delivered a long explanation of how he wanted to return control back to the Italians and restore morale to the people. After listening to him, Hitler responded with insults and accusations. He stressed the importance of controlling the partisans and ended with a few words of goodwill. The only good part of this trip was they Mussolini was able to give a speech to the Italian soldiers being trained in Germany.

Back at his Lake Gordo residence, the news from the front was worse. Rome fell. Allies landed in Normandy coast. Partisans were growing stronger and more bold. A thousand partisans entered Milan unopposed. After the partisans attacked a German truck, the Nazis executed 15 political prisoners in a main square of Milan, Piazalle Loreto . The rule of the Salo Republic was confined to the Po Valley.

Mussolini left Italy on July 15th on a special train to speak to his troops and visit Hitler, again. Only few hours before they were to confer, Hitler went into a conference at his Wolf's Lair where he was the target of an assassaniation attempt. He kicked a briefcase behind the leg of the table which deflected the blast when it exploded. Hitler was still visible shaken and held one arm stiff when he greeted Mussolini at the train station.

By August 1944, the Allies were in Paris and had landed a force in southern France. Florence was captured, thus establishing a front line only 150 miles from his residence. The Salo government would soon have to retreat. Without asking permission, Mussolini announced an important even for Milan on 15 December. Here he gave his last public speech before a selected Fascist audience.

Thanks for coming by!