Murder, Not Execution

The bias in favor of Communist explanations is perhaps best revealed in the established account concerning Mussolini's end. Invariably we read of him being "executed by partisans," though all should know better. Bushwhackers prowling behind the battle lines and self-appointed political opponents with foreign allegiance exploiting the disorder caused by war are not empowered to "execute" anyone. Mussolini was murdered by Italian Communists operating under Stalinist discipline.

One of the consequences of the destruction of Mussolini and his regime was a prodigious rise in criminal activities in Italy, engineered by traditional organized criminal gangs which returned to their established activities when released from the confines of Mussolini's prisons. Dominating this development was the revivified Mafia, effectively subdued for over a decade before the arrival in 1943-44 of the Anglo-American armies, and suddenly back in business everywhere with the achievement of "liberation."

"The Death and Life of the Mafia in Italy - From Suppression by Mussolini to Revival by 'Liberation,' 1926-1946" By James Joseph Martin