Description:

THE LAST DAYS OF BENITO MUSSOLINI
An interesting assemblage of original 8" x 10" b/w photographs taken by an unidentified American Army photographer and journalist who was stationed in Italy in from 1943-1945, along with his original penciled notes and manuscript, likely intended for publication. The eight photographs show an assortment of images, from war-torn buildings in Rome, to the eruption of Vesuvius, to an aerial view of Rome during a bombing, to gruesome images of Mussolini's hanging in the Piazza Loretto in Milan, and the pile of desecrated bodies gathered thereafter. Each photograph is accompanied by a paragraph or two of well-written explanation of the scene and commentary (possibly written post-war) while the final pages comprise a detailed 5pp. 4to. account of Mussolini's death, in very small part: "...On Apr. 27, 1945, the historic cities Verona and Genoa...were taken by the Allied Armies....Benito Mussolini had been a hunted man for several days...he dreaded above all else capture by his own countrymen. He hoped to get into Switzerland...he begged the Germans to take him...Bundled into a car...Mussolini set out through Corio. The road was under constant surveillance...The Partisans seized him...Mussolini was informed he would be tried at once as a traitor...Taken out into a field, the trembling whining Duce was tired to a chair...Clara Petacci was bound beside him...The execution squad took its stand behind them. 'Fire' Mussolini toppled into the dirt, his mistress fell beside him. The bodies were tumbled, with those of other Fascists captured by the Partisans, into a truck...Milan was already under Partisan control...the arriving Americans were greeting by a gruesome sight...a dozen bodies, suspended by the heels...surrounded by a howling, milling crowd which broke rank innumerable times to spit upon the bedraggled corpses, reviling them even in death...When the bodies were cut down...it surged upon them, kicking, hitting, beating with sticks, defiling and cursing...". Very good condition.

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June 4, 2010 11:00 AM EDT
Stamford, CT, US

Alexander Historical Auctions LLC

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