Sex Lives of the Great Dictators by Nigel Cawthorne Page A
Authors: Nigel Cawthorne
Tags: Non-Fiction
Ads: Link
partisans said that, to prevent unnecessary bloodshed, they would allow the Germans through - but not any Italian Fascists. Clara urged Mussolini to disguise himself as a German and make his escape. Then she burst into tears. He donned a German greatcoat and helmet and climbed on board a German lorry. As it pulled away, Clara ran after it and tried to clamber on, but one of Mussolini's ministers grabbed her. It took all his strength to pull her off the tailboard.
Someone, however, had spotted Mussolini at the road block. In the next town, the convoy was searched and he was found. The redoubtable Clara caught them up again, only to be arrested herself. At first, she pretended that she was not Clara Petacci but a Spaniard. She even asked the partisans what they would do to Clara Petacci if they caught her. But soon she confessed.
"You all hate me," she told her interrogators. "You think I went after him for his money and his power. It isn't true. My love has not been selfish. I have sacrificed myself for him."
She begged to be locked up in the same jail as him.
"If you kill him, kill me too," she said.
Orders were given to take Mussolini and Clara to Milan. When the two cars carrying them met up on the road, they were allowed a few moments to talk. Clara was absurdly formal.
"Good evening, Your Excellency," she said.
Mussolini was angry to see her.
"Signora, why are you here?" he demanded.
"Because I want to be with you," she replied.
The prisoners and their escorts arrived at Azzano at a quarter past three in the morning.
They were to stay at the home of a partisan family called the De Marias.
At about four o'clock the next night, a man in a brown mackintosh named Audisio turned up, saying that he had come to rescue them. They were driven to a nearby villa where they were ordered out of the car. Their "rescuers" were Communist partisans who had been ordered to execute Mussolini, along with fifteen other leading Fascists.
Clara threw her arms around Mussolini and screamed: "No! No! You mustn't do it. You mustn't."
"Leave him alone," Audisio said, "or you'll be shot too."
But this threat meant nothing to Clara. If Mussolini must die, then she wanted to die too and she clung on to him.
Audisio raised his gun and pulled the trigger but missed his target. Clara rushed at him and grabbed the barrel of the gun with both hands. As they wrestled, Audisio pulled the trigger again.
"You cannot kill us like this," Clara screamed.
Audisio pulled the trigger a third time, but the gun was well and truly jammed. So he borrowed a machine gun from a fellow partisan and sprayed them with bullets. The first shot killed Clara. The second hit Mussolini and knocked him down. The third killed him.
Their two bodies were thrown onto the back of a lorry, on top of the corpses of the other Fascists who had been executed. They were driven to Milan. In the Piazzale Loreto, they were strung up from a lamp-post by the feet. Clara's skirt fell down over her face, leaving her lower half naked. A partisan stood on a box and tied the torn hem of her skirt up between her legs to preserve some of her modesty. Curiously, though Mussolini's mistress was widely hated, many men who were there that day remarked on Clara's face. Even beneath the dirt and smears of blood, they said, she was remarkably beautiful.
5 - HITLER HAVING A BALL
Adolf Hitler was the most evil man of modern times; but, although he has been dead for over fifty years, he still has a growing band of followers across Europe, America, Russia, India, Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Far East. Racists, anti-Semites, religious fundamentalists, authoritarians and just plain nutcases are mesmerized by his demagoguery, his totalitarian vision and his simple, bloodthirsty solution to any political problem. But if his followers knew about his pitiful, pathetic, perverted sex life, they would find it hard to hold him in such awe. It is difficult to have any respect for a man who likes to
Someone, however, had spotted Mussolini at the road block. In the next town, the convoy was searched and he was found. The redoubtable Clara caught them up again, only to be arrested herself. At first, she pretended that she was not Clara Petacci but a Spaniard. She even asked the partisans what they would do to Clara Petacci if they caught her. But soon she confessed.
"You all hate me," she told her interrogators. "You think I went after him for his money and his power. It isn't true. My love has not been selfish. I have sacrificed myself for him."
She begged to be locked up in the same jail as him.
"If you kill him, kill me too," she said.
Orders were given to take Mussolini and Clara to Milan. When the two cars carrying them met up on the road, they were allowed a few moments to talk. Clara was absurdly formal.
"Good evening, Your Excellency," she said.
Mussolini was angry to see her.
"Signora, why are you here?" he demanded.
"Because I want to be with you," she replied.
The prisoners and their escorts arrived at Azzano at a quarter past three in the morning.
They were to stay at the home of a partisan family called the De Marias.
At about four o'clock the next night, a man in a brown mackintosh named Audisio turned up, saying that he had come to rescue them. They were driven to a nearby villa where they were ordered out of the car. Their "rescuers" were Communist partisans who had been ordered to execute Mussolini, along with fifteen other leading Fascists.
Clara threw her arms around Mussolini and screamed: "No! No! You mustn't do it. You mustn't."
"Leave him alone," Audisio said, "or you'll be shot too."
But this threat meant nothing to Clara. If Mussolini must die, then she wanted to die too and she clung on to him.
Audisio raised his gun and pulled the trigger but missed his target. Clara rushed at him and grabbed the barrel of the gun with both hands. As they wrestled, Audisio pulled the trigger again.
"You cannot kill us like this," Clara screamed.
Audisio pulled the trigger a third time, but the gun was well and truly jammed. So he borrowed a machine gun from a fellow partisan and sprayed them with bullets. The first shot killed Clara. The second hit Mussolini and knocked him down. The third killed him.
Their two bodies were thrown onto the back of a lorry, on top of the corpses of the other Fascists who had been executed. They were driven to Milan. In the Piazzale Loreto, they were strung up from a lamp-post by the feet. Clara's skirt fell down over her face, leaving her lower half naked. A partisan stood on a box and tied the torn hem of her skirt up between her legs to preserve some of her modesty. Curiously, though Mussolini's mistress was widely hated, many men who were there that day remarked on Clara's face. Even beneath the dirt and smears of blood, they said, she was remarkably beautiful.
5 - HITLER HAVING A BALL
Adolf Hitler was the most evil man of modern times; but, although he has been dead for over fifty years, he still has a growing band of followers across Europe, America, Russia, India, Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Far East. Racists, anti-Semites, religious fundamentalists, authoritarians and just plain nutcases are mesmerized by his demagoguery, his totalitarian vision and his simple, bloodthirsty solution to any political problem. But if his followers knew about his pitiful, pathetic, perverted sex life, they would find it hard to hold him in such awe. It is difficult to have any respect for a man who likes to
Similar Books
