Today In History with The Retrospectors

Mussolini's Last Day on Earth


Listen Later

Benito Mussolini was captured by partisans on 27th April, 1945, whilst attempting a hopeless escape to Switzerland, ‘disguised’ in a Luftwaffe coat and helmet alongside his much-younger mistress, Clara Petacci.

Hiding in plain sight was never going to work for a man who had spent years building a cult of personality. He put up little resistance to his capture.

That night, the couple spent their final hours in a peasant farmhouse, under the nervous watch of their captors. Mussolini, who once saw himself as Italy’s savior and Hitler’s equal, had lost everything. His empire was gone, his people had turned against him, and now he was simply waiting to die.

In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly consider the missing evidence around his iconic execution; explain what happened to Mussolini’s body in Milan’s Piazzale Loreto; and discover how his tomb in Predappio is still attracting neo-fascist pilgrims...

Further Reading:

• ‘Benito Mussolini's Death At The Hands Of Italian Partisans In 1945’ (All That’s Interesting, 2025): https://allthatsinteresting.com/benito-mussolini-death

• ‘How Italian Dictator Benito Mussolini Became The First Face Of Fascism’ (HistoryExtra, 2022):

https://www.historyextra.com/period/20th-century/benito-mussolini-il-duce-first-20th-century-european-fascist-italian-dictator/

• ‘The Final Years of Il Duce’ (SLICE HISTORY, 2024): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E2wB22RVkH4

Love the show? Support us! 

Join  🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode each SUNDAY… 

… Plus, get weekly bonus bits, and unlock over 100 bits of extra content. 

Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️

The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.

Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie Peart.

Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2026.

#WW2 #Italy #40s #Macabre

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

Today In History with The RetrospectorsBy The Retrospectors

  • 4.5
  • 4.5
  • 4.5
  • 4.5
  • 4.5

4.5

103 ratings


More shows like Today In History with The Retrospectors

View all
The Allusionist by Helen Zaltzman

The Allusionist

3,013 Listeners

More or Less by BBC Radio 4

More or Less

863 Listeners

Friday Night Comedy from BBC Radio 4 by BBC Radio 4

Friday Night Comedy from BBC Radio 4

2,113 Listeners

The Infinite Monkey Cage by BBC Radio 4

The Infinite Monkey Cage

1,952 Listeners

Answer Me This! by Helen and Olly

Answer Me This!

831 Listeners

No Such Thing As A Fish by No Such Thing As A Fish

No Such Thing As A Fish

4,873 Listeners

Comedy of the Week by BBC Radio 4

Comedy of the Week

480 Listeners

Curious Cases by BBC Radio 4

Curious Cases

756 Listeners

The Week Unwrapped - with Olly Mann by The Week Unwrapped

The Week Unwrapped - with Olly Mann

78 Listeners

Evil Genius with Russell Kane by BBC Sounds

Evil Genius with Russell Kane

346 Listeners

The Modern Mann by Olly Mann

The Modern Mann

148 Listeners

You're Dead to Me by BBC Radio 4

You're Dead to Me

3,245 Listeners

Cautionary Tales with Tim Harford by Pushkin Industries

Cautionary Tales with Tim Harford

5,109 Listeners

We Can Be Weirdos by Global

We Can Be Weirdos

191 Listeners

Lunchbox Envy by Lunchbox Envy

Lunchbox Envy

51 Listeners