On this day, 28 April 1945, Italyās fascist dictator, Benito Mussolini, was executed by anti-fascist partisans in the village of Giulino de Mezzegra, northern Italy.
After his reign of terror was deposed in 1943, Mussolini was broken from captivity by Nazi troops, and put in charge of a puppet government in northern Italy, which was occupied by Germany.
As more of Italy was liberated by partisan and Allied forces, he tried to escape to Switzerland disguised in a German uniform. But he was spotted by a resistance member who called out āWeāve got Big-Head!ā
Mussolini was executed near Lake Como alongside a number of other senior fascists and his mistress. Their bodies were then taken to Milan and dumped in Piazzale Loreto in the early hours of the following morning, where they were soon hung up from the frame of a petrol station.
The previous year, the Milan Gestapo had publicly executed 15 Italian partisans in that square and hung their bodies there for several days. Subsequently, Mussolini was reported to have said āfor the blood of Piazzale Loreto, we shall pay dearly.ā
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