Clara Petacci went down in history primarily not as a friend of the Duce, but as a woman whose love deserves only admiration and respect: she could not breathe without her Benito, Senora Petacci covered the body of her beloved and died first, she was not were able to tear away from Mussolini.
Mussolini's only love
Maybe you should not admire the love story of the fascist dictator, but Clara Petacci had nothing to do with the deeds of Benito Mussolini, she lived only in love.
A rather rich woman, she never used her position as a beloved Duce for selfish purposes. Most often, official information about her comes down to reports that she was an Italian aristocrat and the last mistress of the fascist dictator. But she was also the only true love of the "great macho" Mussolini.
Favorite since childhood
Clara Petacci (photo attached) was a real Italian beauty - a snow-white face with huge luminous eyes, dark, thick, curly hair, an amazing figure with high puffy breasts, thinwaist and wide hips - it was impossible not to notice her. This "slave of love" was born in 1912 in the family of one of the personal doctors of Pope Pius XI, Francesco Saverio Petacci. The cult of Mussolini dominated the house, and, according to many testimonies, Clara adored the Duce from childhood. She wrote letters to him with declarations of love, but they settled in the secretariat, since there were thousands of such messages. In Italy during the reign of Mussolini, the attitude of women towards him was reminiscent of mass psychosis or hysteria: he was loved and desired by women of all ages. He knew how to please not only women, everyone was enthusiastically waiting for his speeches delivered from the balcony, for the love of which the Italians called Mussolini Juliet.
Love turned into real feeling
Clara Petacci in real life first met her idol on a car ride in 1932. She was 20 years old, Mussolini - 50. The loving Duce, whose sexual abilities were legendary, could not help but pay attention to the amazing beauty. And then amazing things begin to happen to the dictator, with which he, in general, was not familiar - their platonic relationship lasted four years. Correspondence with declarations of love was continuous.
Whole Nature
In general, the epistolary legacy that Clara Petacci left is 15 volumes. And all the letters are dedicated to the only chosen one, by the time of the meeting with whom she was the official bride of the aristocrat Riccardo Federici, a military pilot.
The Duce's mistress Clara becomes in 1936year, and at the same time she divorced her husband. From now on, her life is connected only with Benito Mussolini, with whom she did not part until her last breath. He was the meaning of her life, and she loved him sincerely and disinterestedly, which cannot be said about her brother. Marcello Petacci made the most of his sister's relationship with the Duce.
Mussolini's legendary amorousness
Mussolini and Clara Petacci met daily at the Palazzo Venezia. She had her own key. There is evidence that Clara did not shine with her mind, but she had the wisdom to never make her beloved scenes of jealousy, because he was still supplied to the secret dating room of women. And Clara suppressed the pangs of jealousy, from which she even lost consciousness. For Mussolini, short meetings with numerous representatives of the weaker sex who were thirsty for intimacy with him were necessary, like air. For them, he interrupted even important government meetings. According to some testimonies, the Duce drew his life energy from these connections.
Blind love
But he loved in the highest sense of the word (provided that the highest concepts are applicable to Mussolini) only Clara. He gave her gifts, one of which was Villa Camiluccia.
And the Duce, who could not refuse her anything, organized a whole parliament considering the requests of Italians who turned to his beloved for help. Clara Petacci Benito Mussolini forgave everything without thinking about herself. In 1941, she underwent a criminal abortion, after which she recovered for a long time only forto meet his Benito again.
Meeting the beloved wife
In the same 1941, the Duce's legal wife Raquel Mussolini visited her, who had five children from the dictator - three sons and two daughters. Interestingly, the middle son of Mussolini became the father of Italian cinema, the patron of all the great neorealists and the owner of the magazine "Chinema". Raquel at the meeting cursed Clara, predicting her future as a cheap prostitute in the famous Piazza Loreto. But the reality turned out to be worse.
Arrest and return to politics
Benito Mussolini, at times when he was in danger, always asked Clara to leave him and leave the country, her family begged for this, but she never betrayed her beloved. After the arrest of Mussolini in 1943, right at the exit of the palace of Victor Emmanuel, who could not help the disgraced Duce, the dictator was imprisoned in the Albergo Rifugio Hotel, located in the Apennines. From there he was kidnapped by Otto Scarzeny and taken to Germany in a suitcase.
The Duce himself, sick and tired of everything, wanted to retire and settle somewhere with his Clara. But Hitler threatened him with the destruction of Milan, Turin and Genoa if Mussolini did not return to politics. And in Italy, a new fascist state is being created, the unofficial name of which is the Republic of Salo (after the name of the capital).
Death united them
Clara Petacci, whose biography is now inextricably linked with Mussolini, lives with him in Lombardy, on Lake Garda in Gargnano. She continues to love everyonethe heart of a sick, useless Mussolini, who is now only a pathetic puppet in the hands of Hitler. Clarita, as Mussolini affectionately called her, has many nicknames, she is called the last, and platonic, and the only love of the Duce. The tragic and even heroic death of this woman, even if Mussolini did not love her, and he loved her very much, raises Clarita above the level of a simple mistress.
Although de facto she remained just a friend, and Eva Braun, already doomed to death, demanded marriage from Hitler, not wanting to repeat the fate of Clara Petacci - to remain in history just the dictator's mistress.
Capture
When the war was drawing to a close and the Americans had already landed in Italy, the mother again began to beg Clara to leave the country, to which her daughter replied that she could not live without Benito. On April 27, 1945, an SS detachment tried to take Mussolini to Austria. Clara, saying goodbye to loved ones, sets off on a journey with Mussolini. But almost at the border, the Italian partisans surround the detachment and, recognizing the Duce, demand his extradition in exchange for saving the lives of the SS men themselves. The exchange took place, although the Germans were sent by Hitler himself precisely for Mussolini.
The night before death
The partisan commander recaptured the Duce from the angry crowd and placed him in a temporary prison, where Clara immediately asked.
The partisans could not help but appreciate the woman's sacrifice, and the lovers spent the last night together. According to some claims, it wastheir only night: on Lake Garda, Clara lived next to Villa Mussolini, and they just saw each other every day.
Lynch justice
The partisan commander Bellini, being a career officer, was going to strictly follow the law and transfer Mussolini into the hands of the authorities of the new Italy, and America demanded the extradition of Mussolini. But Colonel Valerio intervened in the events, who recaptured Mussolini from the partisans and took them away with Clara towards Villa Belmonte, at the gates of which the tragedy broke out. Clara was pushed aside all the time, and she covered her beloved with herself. Killed them the third time - before that there were misfires.
Cruelty of the mob
The dead, especially Mussolini, were brutally abused, as a result of which the Duce's body turned into a mess. The colonel reveled in what he had done, but even this seemed to him insufficient. The bloody bodies were taken to Milan, and here in Loreto Square they were hung upside down on meat hooks. Clara Petacci, whose execution, no matter how you look at it, ennobled the death of the bloody dictator, shared his fate with him until the last minute. Very few on this earth can boast of such love, loy alty and devotion of a woman. And whatever one may say, the possessed communist terrorist Valerio looks disgusting in this story.
A beauty, an aristocrat and a rich woman voluntarily accepted a savage death, and the crowd, which quite recently howled with delight, seeing their beloved Duce, spat, danced (some publicly relieved themselves) on the mutilated bodies of Mussolini and his girlfriend.
Relatives
Clara Petacci's family was persecuted after her death. True, after the arrest in 1943 and the liberation by the Germans of Northern Italy, where many of Clara's relatives were in custody, some of them managed to leave the country. The main corrupt official - brother Marcello - was captured and killed in 1945 while trying to cross the Swiss border, huge amounts of money and jewelry were found with him.
