Italy: Dozens Give Fascist Salute, Anniv Dictator Mussolini Execution 1945, Founder of Fascism; Premier Meloni
- Dozens in Italy give a fascist salute on the anniversary of Mussolini’s execution, AP News, April 28, 2024
ROME (AP) — Dozens of people raised their arms in the fascist salute and shouted a fascist chant during ceremonies Sunday to honor Italian dictator Benito Mussolini on the 79th anniversary of his execution. Dressed in black, these nostalgics marched through northern Italian towns where Mussolini was arrested and executed at the end of World War II, and also in Predappio, Mussolini’s birthplace and final resting place.
Mussolini was stopped by anti-fascist partisans in Dongo, on the shores of Lake Como, on April 27, 1945, as he tried to escape with his lover, Clara Petacci, following the Allied liberation of Italy. On Sunday, a group of his supporters marched through Dongo and placed 15 roses in the lake in memory of the ministers and officials from the Mussolini government who were killed there, according to video of the event by LaPresse news agency.
The partisans executed Mussolini and Petacci the following day in the nearby lakeside town of Mezzegra-Giulino, where commemorations were also held Sunday. After a rendition of Taps, the leader of the commemorations shouted “Comrad Benito Mussolini,” and the crowd responded with a stiff-armed fascist salute and chant of “present.” - The anniversary of Mussolini’s execution fell on the same day that Premier Giorgia Meloni was leading her far-right Brothers of Italy party in an election rally in the city of Pescara.
Brothers of Italy traces its roots to the Italian Social Movement, which was founded in 1946 by a chief of staff in Mussolini’s last government and drew fascist sympathizers and officials into its ranks after Mussolini’s fall. Meloni, who joined the MSI’s youth branch as a teenager, has tried to distance her party from its neo-fascist roots. She has condemned fascism’s suppression of democracy and insisted that the Italian right handed fascism over to history decades ago. On Sunday, Meloni accused the left of being more of a totalitarian threat to Italy today...
https://apnews.com/article/italy-mussolini-meloni-fascism-42f33fe695428ad8db0182d8d911c184
- Wiki. Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini, (29 July 1883 – 28 April 1945) was an Italian dictator who founded and led the National Fascist Party (PNF). He was Prime Minister of Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 until his deposition in 1943, as well as Duce of Italian fascism from the establishment of the Italian Fasces of Combat in 1919 until his summary execution in 1945 by Italian partisans. As dictator of Italy and principal founder of fascism, Mussolini inspired and supported the international spread of fascist movements during the inter-war period...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benito_Mussolini#:~:text=Benito%20Amilcare%20Andrea%20Mussolini%20
