TWO PHOTOGRAPHS DISPLAYING THE HANGING CORPSE OF MUSSOLINI.
1945 · no place
by Mussolini, Benito
no place: No publisher, 1945. Photographic Image. Near fine condition. No Binding. Early edition. Two black & white photographs, measuring approximately 4.25 inches x 6.25 inches (105mm x 162mm), depicting the upside-down hanging corpse of Italian Fascist Dictator Benito Mussolini and others on April 29, 1945. A day earlier, Mussolini, his mistress Clara (Claretta) Petacci, her brother, and the dictator's 15 person entourage of ministers and officials of the Italian Social Republic were captured by partisans. They had been traveling with retreating German forces, with Mussolini apparently wearing a German military uniform. They were executed in Giulino di Mezzegra by shooting or firing squad and the bodies transported south of Milan and dumped at the old Piazzale Loreto, which was renamed Piazza Quindici Martiri. After the corpses were shot, kicked, and spat upon, the bodies were hung upside-down on meathooks from the roof of an Esso gas station. The bodies were then stoned by civilians. The site had previously been used for executions of partisans by Axis authories. One photographs shows a total of 7 hanging corpses, identified only by number. Numbers 4 and 5 are Mussolini and his mistress Petacci. Historical records identify number 3 as Achille Starace. A gas pump is clearly visible in the immediate background, as is the gas station. It is almost a straight on shot, maybe 15 degrees to the right, showing 50-60 spectators and a few men facing the crowd, apparently acting as security. There are no G.I.'s shown, although 4-5 men in leather jackets standing directly in front of the corpses may be aviators.The other photograph is a close-up of Mussolini and his mistress, taken about 45 degrees from the left. There is no photographer's identification on the front or back of the prints. Minor staining to the edges. These are original prints from 1945.. (Inventory #: 015744)