In a state of great agitation he rushed down the palace stairs with Marshal Graziani and two priests,and did not return to give his reply.
He was next reported by a Swiss railway official passing through Cernobbio on Lake Como,early on Friday.
At 10 o’clock on Friday morning he tried to enter Switzerland,but was unsuccessful.
He was arrested on Friday afternoon at Dongo and spent Friday night in cell No. 6 in San Domino prison,at Como.
He tried to talk with his guards and appeared to be in a terrible state of agitation.
Soon after noon on Saturday Mussolini,his mistress Claretta Petacci,and 30 other high Fascists were marched to the little town of Galiano di Mezzegere,near Lake Como.
He died like a coward shouting:“No,no,” to the firing squad before the volley rang out
Here the Patriots “renounced all judicial procedure and went directly to the final act,” said an eye-witness.
“Save my life and I will give you an empire,” Mussolini told his judges. But he was shot in the back in the Italian method of execution.
He died like a coward shouting:“No,no,” to the firing squad before the volley rang out. His mistress clung to him till the last,but was shot separately.
The other prisoners were then executed. It is reported,however,that Marshal Graziani was handed over to the Allies.
The bodies were taken to Milan in lorries and flung on a grass plot in the Plaza Lotero,where 14 Partisans had been massacred by the Fascists last year.
Describing the scene the Zurich (Switzerland) correspondent of the”Daily Mail” says:—
“All day the people of Milan milled round the corpse of this hated man. They fired bullets into the body. They kicked it and spat on it. It seems they will not be satisfied until they have torn it to pieces.”
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Milan Radio said:“It is impossible to move because the crowd is so great. It is interesting to see the hate and fury of those around Mussolini.
“People spit upon the body,but that is only a continuation of the justice he should have suffered. He died too quickly.
“Never has so much hate,rancour,and thirst for vengeance been seen. This is justice. This is a good example and will be followed by others.”