The Democratic Fascist Party (in

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

''Partito Democratico Fascista'') was a clandestine Italian fascist political party. The party is known mainly because its founder and some other members stole the dead body of Benito Mussolini from the Cimitero Maggiore in

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

History

The group, led by

Domenico Leccisi Domenico Leccisi (20 May 19202 November 2008) was an Italian politician, who is best known for stealing the corpse of the fascist dictator Benito Mussolini from an unmarked grave in 1946.Hevesi, Dennis"Domenico Leccisi, Italian Political Figur ...

(founder together with Mauro Rana and Antonio Parozzi), was part of that galaxy of

neo-fascist Neo-fascism is a post-World War II far-right ideology that includes significant elements of fascism. Neo-fascism usually includes ultranationalism, racial supremacy, populism, authoritarianism, nativism, xenophobia, and anti-immigration s ...

groups formed in the aftermath of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

: it chose this name in reference to the concept of organic democracy, conceived by Italian fascism and formalized during the Italian Social Republic (RSI), adopting as a symbol the bundle without the axe. The information organ of the Democratic Fascist Party was ''Lotta Fascista'', a clandestine paper considered the best of the period, among the neo-fascist clandestine newspapers, in terms of style, graphics and typographic quality.

The murders of the ''Volante Rossa''

The murders of fascists in

, mainly by the communist " Volante Rossa" group, pushed the latter to regroup and begin to take the initiative and on November 5, 1945, the billboards of the

Odeon cinema Odeon, stylised as ODEON, is a cinema brand name operating in the United Kingdom, Ireland and Norway, which along with UCI Cinemas and Nordic Cinema Group is part of the Odeon Cinemas Group subsidiary of AMC Theatres. It uses the famous name ...

advertising the film ''

Rome, Open City ''Rome, Open City'' ( it, Roma città aperta, also released as ''Open City'') is a 1945 Italian neorealist war drama film directed by Roberto Rossellini and co-written by Sergio Amidei, Celeste Negarville and Federico Fellini. Set in Rome in ...

'' were set on fire. The action was claimed by the new Democratic Fascist Party of

. On 9 December 1946, fascist activist Brunilde Tanzi, former member of the Female Auxiliary Service and also a member of the Fascist Democratic Party, managed to replace a record during some advertising broadcasts with the fascist anthem ''

Giovinezza "Giovinezza" ( – ) is the official hymn of the Italian National Fascist Party, regime, and army, and was an unofficial national anthem of the Kingdom of Italy between 1924 and 1943.Farrell, Nicholas. 2005. ''Mussolini: a New Life''. Sterling Pub ...

'' on the entire Piazza del Duomo. On 17 January 1947 she was assassinated in Via San Protaso, in the center of Milan, and on the same day Eva Macciacchini, member of the neo-fascist group "Squadre d'Azione Mussolini", was also killed. The material authors of the murder of the two young women were never discovered, but the methods used were similar of those of the "Volante Rossa".

The theft of Mussolini's body

The group is mainly remembered because on 27/28 April 1946, on the anniversary of Mussolini's death, it stole the remains of Benito Mussolini's body from the

Cimitero Maggiore di Milano The Cimitero Maggiore di Milano ("Greater Cemetery of Milan"), also known as Cimitero di Musocco ("Musocco Cemetery"), is the largest cemetery of Milan, Italy. It is located in Zone 8, in the Musocco district (formerly a ''comune'' of its own), ...

, which had been buried there anonymously after his execution. Speaking of the action, Leccisi said:

"We went down into the pit and managed, holding one hand under the shoulders of the corpse, to pass a rope around his chest and another around his legs. When we raised him to his feet, his arms fell dangling and his head remained erect: the body assumed that characteristic position of attention that gave Mussolini, especially in public ceremonies, a martial and unmistakable appearance.»

The theft was publicly claimed by the groups in two letters, sent by Leccisi and his comrades, to the leftist newspapers ''

Avanti! ''Avanti!'' is a 1972 American/Italian international co-production comedy film produced and directed by Billy Wilder, and starring Jack Lemmon and Juliet Mills. The screenplay by Wilder and I. A. L. Diamond is based on Samuel A. Taylor's play, ...

'' and ''

l'Unità ''l'Unità'' (, lit. 'the Unity') was an Italian language, Italian newspaper, founded as the official newspaper of the Italian Communist Party (PCI) in 1924. It was supportive of that party's successor parties, the Democratic Party of the Left, ...

.'' On 7 May, the body was moved to the ''Angelicum'' Convent, thanks to the complicity of two Roman Catholic priests, that later moved it to the

Certosa di Pavia The Certosa di Pavia is a monastery and complex in Lombardy, Northern Italy, situated near a small town of the same name in the Province of Pavia, north of Pavia. Built in 1396–1495, it was once located on the border of a large huntin ...

. On 3 July 1946 Leccisi and Antonio Perozzi, also a member of the party, were arrested by the Guards of Public Security Corps and charged with stealing Mussolini's body. On 12 August one of the priest who helped the group in the theft confessed his actions to the Guards and the dictator's body was recovered by the authorities.

End of the group

From May to September 1946, about twenty leaders and militants of the party, including Leccisi himself, were arrested by the Guards of Public Security and the

Carabinieri The Carabinieri (, also , ; formally ''Arma dei Carabinieri'', "Arm of Carabineers"; previously ''Corpo dei Carabinieri Reali'', "Royal Carabineers Corps") are the national gendarmerie of Italy who primarily carry out domestic and foreign polic ...

, effectively dismantling the party; the remaining members disbanded the Democratic Fascist Party on 27 December 1946. The action of Leccisi, a relatively unknown young militant who acted without opinions or authorizations from the former hierarchs, was greeted with enthusiasm by the whole neo-fascist milieu.

References

Sources

* Mario Giovana, ''Le nuove camicie nere'', Edizioni dell'Albero, Turin, 1966. * Mario Tedeschi, ''I Fascisti dopo Mussolini'', Edizioni Arnia, Rome, 1950. * Nicola Rao, ''La Fiamma e la Celtica'', Sperling & Kupfer, Rome, 2006. * Enzo Antonio Cicchino e Roberto Olivo, ''Correva l'anno della vendetta'', Mursia, 2013 {{Authority control 1945 establishments in Italy 1946 disestablishments in Italy Defunct nationalist parties in Italy Neo-fascist parties Neo-fascist organisations in Italy Political parties disestablished in 1946 Political parties established in 1945