Dated: October 25, 2008

1 – Unidentified - Shirtless with what appears to be a rope or suspenders around his mid-torso, which can be seen in photos from other side. 2 - Bombacci - Dark trousers and dark shirt. 3 - Unidentified - Army trousers (? a little darker), Shirt pulled down. One widely distrubuted photo identifies body as Gelormini (?). 4 - Mussolini - Army officer trousers with stripe on side. Boots. Wearing a light undershirt. His coat was removed. 5 - Clara Petacci - dark skirt & coat(?) Skirt is tied up around her knees. 6 - Pavolini - Boots and Army trousers, shirtless. Sign tied to him. 7 - Starace - Shirtless with Army trousers.

A longer version of the Capture and Execution of Mussolini and 15 of his supporters.







Mussolini spent his last 7 days in power in Milan, which was the site of his rise to power. Then on April 20, 1945, he disbanded his government offices. On April 21, Bologna was captured by the Allied troops and the Fascist chief Arpinati was slain. Duce's staff and friends tried to persuade Duce to flee to Spain but he refused to leave his country.

Duce submitted a proposal to the Socialist part of the Liberation Committee, that was flatly refused. On April 24th, Cardinal Schuster made contact but nothing became of that as Duce became more apethetic to surrendering to his destiny. He told the Cardinal, "I have no illusions". A meeting was held with the Liberation Committee at the Archbishop's palace, where they informed him of the impending surrender of the German army in Italy. Mussolini's reaction was:

"They have always treated us like slaves, and now they betray us".

On April 25th, they left Milan in a convoy headed for the lakes near Como with their desitnation as Valtelline. The column consisted of some cars and German armored cars, followed by Clara Petacci and her family. At Como, they discussed htier options over supper. Duce wrote the last letter to his wife, Rachele , urging here to flee to Switzerland. He signed it:

"Your Benito, Como, 27th April, 1945

Year XIII of the Fascist Era".

They left Como on 26th and stopped at Menaggio. A column of Fascists troops, lead by Pavolini , left Milan to join up with their leader. News reached them of the decree from Liberation Committee calling for the death peanilty for Fascists responsible for the 1922 "insurrection" and those guilty of crimes against the state since September 8, 1943.

On April 27th, Pavolini went on ahead of his troops and reached Mussolini. Accompanying him were Angela Curti, the former mistress of Mussolini. At the same time a German anti-aircraft unit, commanded by Lt. Fallmeyer, arrived in Menaggio headed for Tyrol. Duce decided once more to seek refuge with his German ally and head north--only to escape capture, not to leave Italy.

At 7am, they reached Masso, where the partisans had blocked the road. Lt. Fallmeyer went to negotiate with the partisan commander, Count Pierluigi Bellini delle Stelle ("Pedro") of the 52nd Garibaldi Brigade. The partisans agreed to allow the Germans to pass but not the Italians.

The Germans persuaded Mussolini to don a German greatcoat and helmet and hide out in the back of a truck. The German column left at 3:00 with Mussolini now all alone. It was stopped at Dongo and searched. Il Duce was easy to find, either because he still wore general's riding pants with a red stripe or information was leaked to the partisan band. Later, Clara Petacci and her brother, Marcello, were captured, but Clara's identity wasn't detected.

The partisan Liberation Committee was informed of the Duce's capture. Immediate orders were given for fair treatment of the prisoners with strict orders not to shoot them even if they attempted escape. By 1:30am on Saturday the 28th, Count Bellini tried to transport his captors back to the Como area. Duce was once wrapped in bandages to disguise him as a wounded partisan. After hearing about the advance of the American 1st Armored Division and even reports of gun fire, they decided to return along their route to Mezzegra. There Mussolini and Clara spent their last night together in a local farmhouse.

The proceedings of the Liberation Committee is now hidden in secrecy. However, it is known that Togliatti, the secretary of the Communist Party and the Vice-Premier of Italy ordered the execution of Duce. Colonel Valerio was entrusted with this important mission in the name of the National Liberation Committee. When he arrived at Dongo at 2pm, there was some confrontation between the Communist leader and the partisan leader, Pedro. Colonel Valerio damanded to see the list of Fascist prisoners. He then revealed he had orders to execute Mussolini. He arbitrarily selected 15 names from the list for execution. (See The Fifteen, below.)

On April 28, Colonel Valerio broke into the room where Mussolini and Clara had been resting. Valerio told them he had come to rescue them. They hurried to the awaiting car. They drove about a mile away and stopped near gate to the Villa Belmonte. They were ordered to get out of the car and stand next to the stone wall. Machine guns were raised and both were shot. A guard was placed over their bodies, and Valerio drove back to Dongo, where he rounded up the remainder of the 15 prisoners selected for execution from the list. They were hurriedly brought out to the square and given 3 minutes for the ministrations of a priest. They were shot down by a partisan firing squad. Marcello Petacci was also shot while trying to escape by jumping into Lake Como. At first, the partisans mistakenly thought Marcello was Vittorio Mussolini, the son of Il Duce.

On April 29th, the bodies were brought to the Piazzale Loreto in Milan. There, six of the corpses were hung by their feet from a girder of an Esso gas station. These included: Benito Mussolini, Clara Petacci, Francesco Barracu, Alessandro Pavolini, Fernando Mezzasomma and Paolo Zerbino . To the pile of bodies lying beneath them was added Archille Starace , who had just been captured and summarily executed on the spot. The crowd vented their anger on the corpses. When they got out of hand, the police turned on water hoses to control the situation * . The Allies ordered the bodies removed for burial.

(See photo at top of page. One source said Starace was hung at Mussolini's left. Many of the photos show only six bodies; only a few show all 7 bodies that were hung and the others lying on the ground. See photo, above, for a description of each one.)

When Adolf Hitler heard how Mussolini was executed and put on public display, he vowed he would not let this happen to him. A few days later, Hitler shot his mistress and new wife, Eva Braunn, and then swallowing some poison, he shot himself in the mouth. Following Hitler's orders, their bodies were placed in a shell hole outside of his Berlin bunker and burned. The Russians found remains of his teeth.

* This incident is based on my Dad's eye witness account of what he saw when he arrived at Milan.