Lonati was interviewed for the documentary and claimed that when he arrived at the farmhouse: Petacci was sitting on the bed and Mussolini was standing. [82], They took them out of the house and, at the corner of a nearby lane they were stood against a fence and shot. These groups began waging campaigns of terrorism and intimidation against Italys leftist institutions at his behest. They made the Germans hand over all the Italians in exchange for allowing the Germans to proceed. The former led to Mussolinis overthrow and imprisonment; the latter to the surrender of Italy, even though German troops soon occupied the entire country and carried on the fight against the Allies from Italian soil. On Easter Sunday 1946, Mussolini's body was located and dug up by a young fascist, Domenico Leccisi, and two friends. No autopsy was carried out on Petacci. Claras brother, Marcello Petacci, was also shot dead while swimming in Lake Como, trying to escape. I read utter exhaustion, but not fear Mussolini seemed completely lacking in will, spiritually dead. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). But of course, almost all of this was mythologicalunreal! This was taken after the mob desecrated their bodies. The next day, their captors brought the pair to the small town of Giulino de Mezzegra on the shores of Lake Como and executed them in a hail of machine gun fire. More than once he was arrested and imprisoned. Audisio said he read out a sentence of death, whereas Lampredi omitted this. Claras eyes stared blankly into the distance. Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. Fascist Italy was, or at least claimed to be, a totalitarian society, in which the state had complete control over the lives of its citizens. [60][61] Earlier that day, Hitler had recorded in his Last Will and Testament that he intended to choose death rather than be captured by the enemy or fall into the hands of "the masses" to become "a spectacle arranged by Jews". Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini in Munich, Germany, circa June 1940. But while Mussolini died in 1945, the ideas he put a name on did not. Like the other Great Powers, he also wanted to create a colonial empire in Africa, looking especially to the East African kingdom of Ethiopia. Joseph Stalin died on March 5, 1953, after apparently suffering a stroke but some suspect that he was actually poisoned. Lampredi was undoubtedly an eyewitness and, because he prepared his narrative for the private records of the Communist Party and not for publication it was perceived that he had no motivation other than to tell the truth. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. [75], Audisio was first named in a series of articles in the newspaper Il Tempo in March 1947 and the Communist Party subsequently confirmed Audisio's involvement. The Fhrer convinced Il Duce to set up a Fascist state in northern Italy where it all began with Milan as its headquarters. [44] Urbano Lazzaro later denied that such a tribunal had been convened and said: I was convinced Mussolini deserved death but there should have been a trial according to law. The campaign in North Africa began with a daring Anglo-American commando raid code-named Operation RESERVIST. /*-->