Mussolini and the Jewish Question in the Diaries of Claretta Petacci

Neretin Anton Il'ich Postgraduate student; Department of Ethnology, Anthropology, Ethnography; Faculty of History; Moscow State University 107045, Russia, Moscow, lane Kostyansky, 11 building 1 neretin11@internet.ru Other publications by this author

         This article will examine Mussolini's attitude towards Jews, as well as his radical change after the conclusion of the alliance with Hitler in 1937. The source will be the memoirs of the Duce's mistress Claretta Petacci, whom he really trusted. We will analyze B. Mussolini's discourse and rhetoric before and after the union with Germany.

         The romantic relationship between C. Petacci and Mussolini began in 1932. Since this year, memoirs ending in 1938 have also been conducted. It is worth noting that the diary was corrected by the Italian journalist and writer Mauro Suttoro, who removed almost half of what was written – "mostly endless erotic fantasies and descriptions of minor episodes" ^{[1, p. 5]}. The interest in these memories is caused by the fact that K. Petacci was exactly the person the Duce truly trusted, so he was not at all shy about talking to her about Hitler, Jews, the Pope, his own wife, etc."Renzo De Felice, the chief historian of fascism, studied Petacci's diary along with the diaries of Ciano (Italian Foreign Minister and Mussolini's son-in–law. - A.N.), Bottai (Minister of Education. – A.N.) and De Bono (Marshal of Italy. – A.N.), and this loving report helped him better understand what he himself calls the "changes in the mood" of the Duce after the proclamation of the empire in 1936" ^{[1, p. 5Moreover, Emilio Re, Chief Inspector of the State Archives, wrote the following about these memoirs on October 15, 1950: "Everyone is looking for Mussolini's diaries. But the most important and true documents are Petacci's diaries..." [cit. according to: 1, p. 8]}.

         The story of these memories is complex and interesting. In April 1945, before going with his duce to his last exile, Petacci gives them to Princess Rina Cervis for safekeeping, who buried them in her garden. Five years later, they were found and confiscated. Clara Petacci's sister Miriam fought until 1991 to have the memoirs of Mussolini's mistress returned to her. After that, Claretta's nephew Ferdinand Petacci continued the baton of fighting for the return of the diaries. Interestingly, the latter, like many other historians, "is sure that Claretta and Marcello (Ferdinando's father – A.N.) were British spies or at least intermediaries between Mussolini and the British special services and that is why they were killed" ^{[1, p. 8]}. There are versions that Clara Petacci was an English spy who worked for Churchill. F. himself. Petacci writes the following: "... it is possible that Clara's diaries are the diaries of a spy" ^{[1, p. 19]}. For our work, the memoirs of Benito Mussolini's mistress are interesting because in them you can find exactly how the Duce treated Jews, Italians, the Pope, etc.

         Although fascism as an idea was initially imbued with nationalism, militarism and chauvinism, such persecution of Jews, as, for example, was in Germany after Hitler came to power in 1933, was not noticed in Italy. Moreover, in the 1930s, the Duce himself stated in a conversation with German journalist Emil Ludwig that: "There are no pure races, including the Jewish one. On the contrary, it is successful mixes that give strength and beauty to a nation… Anti-Semitism does not exist in Italy" ^{[2, p. 294]}. L.S. Belousov also writes about this ^{[2, p. 295]}. However, Mussolini's rhetoric changed dramatically in 1937.

         Having accepted the invitation of the German leader to visit Germany in 1937 (before that, the Duce had refused Hitler five times), Mussolini went to Germany. The Nazi leader prepared for the visit very seriously. Christopher Hibbert writes the following in his work: "In the weeks leading up to the visit, Hitler not only thoroughly prepared a solemn meeting of the head of a foreign state, including, of course, the obligatory honors corresponding to this event, but also scrupulously planned a demonstration of German power" ^{[3, p. 133]}. The display of German military strength, the ability to organize effectively and dedication made such a strong impression on Benito Mussolini that, before that, he did not particularly want to conclude an alliance with Germany, said: "When fascism finds a friend," Mussolini declared, trying to shout over the sound of rain on Mayfeld (a large section of a field in Berlin that the Nazis used as a parade ground for parades, marches and other propaganda events) through crackling loudspeakers, "then with this friend he goes to the end" ^{[3, c. 134]}. This event was a landmark for both Germany and Italy. From now on, an alliance was formed between the father of fascism and the leader of the National Socialists.

         After Mussolini began to lead a pro-German course, which became the "beginning of the end" of fascism in Italy. For example, the Duce signed a decree on the use of the "goose step" as a new type of marching by Italian soldiers. "The soldiers at first only laughed, but when the senseless drill began, they began to curse the innovation and scold the Duce" [5 p. 237]. French sociologist Marcel Moss spoke about this "goose step" as an element of body technique. "We (the French - A.N.) laugh at the "goose step", and in the German army it serves as a means of achieving maximum breadth of step" ^{[6, pp. 318-319]}. The author explains this by saying that "the inhabitants of the North, being long-legged, like to take as wide a step as possible" ^{[6, p. 319]}. Thus, M. Moss directly links the technique of the body to the national and morphological features of society. In our case, the Italians, being a southern people, were not used to taking long steps, so B. Mussolini's innovation was rejected by them at the anthropological level.

         Moreover, the Italians have now learned that they are a "superior race." In 1938, the fascist press published a statement by some famous professors, "the content of which was that the Italians were Nordic Aryans, whose blood had not been mixed since the Lombard invasion..." ^{[3, p. 137]}. Anti-Semitism, which has always been absent there (according to the same Mussolini), and a ban on mixed marriages with representatives of the non-Aryan race began to be imposed in Italy (Italian anti-Semitism will be discussed more broadly below). "These same measures caused increased opposition to fascism in the country, which often caused Mussolini to have fits of rage..." ^{[3, p. 137]}. "... racial laws not only did not enjoy the support of the masses, but also gave rise to a feeling of dislike for the fascist regime, which was intensified by the simultaneous rampant anti-Semitic campaign in Germany. Many ordinary Italians helped Jewish families overcome economic hardships, and with the arrival of the Nazis in Italy in 1943, they began hiding Jews and transporting them outside the country" ^{[5, p. 240]}.  

         The attitude towards Hitler has not changed. Mussolini told Clarette Petacci the following: "Hitler revels in himself, and in vain," he told her. – Germany is dragging him, and Mussolini is dragging Italy on himself. This is exactly the case" ^{[1, p. 205]}. Moreover, to his son–in-law and Foreign Minister Galeazzo Ciano, married to the eldest daughter of Duce Edda Mussolini, the father of fascist ideology said the following about the Germans and the Fuhrer: "They are dirty dogs, and I say that this cannot last long… I am fed up with Hitler and his behavior... all these meetings that are called by the bell are not to my taste; the bell is used when servants are called" ^{[7, p. 415]}.  Thus, we see that the Duce had no sympathy for either the Germans or the Fuhrer. However, this did not prevent him from pursuing a pro-German course in order to please Hitler. It can be said that all these measures were dictated only by the fact that Mussolini saw Germany as a strong ally: even much stronger than Italy.

         It was after the above events that Mussolini's discourse changed radically. The culmination was the racial laws of 1938, adopted by the Grand Fascist Council (the highest body of the Fascist Party of Italy). He ruled: "(a) a ban on the marriages of Italians and Italians with elements belonging to the Hamitic, Semitic and other non-Aryan races; (b) a ban on civil servants and government agencies of civilian and military personnel marrying foreign women of any race; (c) the marriage of Italians and Italians with foreigners, including Aryan the race must have the prior consent of the Ministry of Internal Affairs; d) measures must be strengthened for those who care about the prestige of the race in the territories of the empire" ^{[8, 19 novembre 1938]}.  Moreover, Jewish children should have been educated in separate classes or schools ^{[9, 15 luglio 1938]}. "In July-December 1938, hundreds of police agents systematically reported that the masses condemned "actions against Jews for reasons of so-called humanism", that "unhealthy pietism, sympathy and sympathy for Jews became much more noticeable than they were before the adoption of laws" ^{[9, 15 luglio 1938]}. Persons with both Jewish parents, as well as children of a Jewish father and a foreign Aryan mother, were classified as Jews. Children from mixed marriages were also recognized as Jews if they adhered to Judaism or adopted another religion after October 1, 1938. The decree expelling foreign Jews from Italy was not to be applied to Jews over the age of 65 or those who married Italians before October 1, 1938. These laws did not apply to Jews who fought in World War I, as well as in the Libyan, Ethiopian and Spanish wars, and those who joined the fascist party between 1919 and 1922 or in the last six months of 1924 (during the crisis after the assassination of Matteotti, when the Socialist leader exposed the rigged Fascist elections in Parliament of 1924) ^{[10, 11 novembre 1938]}.

         According to the diaries of C. Petacci, until 1937 her lover did not say anything about anti-Semitism and Jews, but after 1937 this topic was discussed repeatedly. For example, on September 2, 1938, the Duce said the following: "No one will do anything bad to them, but they should not take away bread from our (Italians. – A.N.). Let them live their lives, trade for themselves, and that's it, but they do not claim our territory. Look at how many teachers there are among them, how many teachers. Too much! They have a pension, they are not impoverished. Let them live like all other foreigners in Italy, [who] are not officially employed, they adapt themselves. The goal is to purify the race, let the Aryans work in the places they occupy. You will get an idea of my racism from the fact that in nineteen twenty-nine, at the opening of the Academy, I declared that no Jew would ever become an academician here. And before that, back in the twenty-third year, I fiercely attacked them in all my speeches. I made a mistake [that I was in a relationship with Sarfatti (B. Mussolini's former mistress of Jewish origin. – A.N.)], but this does not mean anything (it just says a lot, namely, about the Duce's lack of anti–Semitic ideas. - A.N.). She was just a woman, and my relationship has no effect on my life and does not change it. Yes, it was my mistake, and I admit it–especially allowing her to associate her name with mine [in her book]. But it rather proves that even the novels had no influence on me. Besides, did I love her? Nothing like that, and since nineteen thirty, everything is over between us" ^{[1, pp. 394-395]}. Moreover, Mussolini then completely went too far, saying that "Jews stink, that's why I couldn't do anything with Sarfatti" ^{[1, p. 395]}.  

         Note how later the Duce even tried to justify his actions regarding the Jews a little, but before that he could not help but express all his newly formed dislike for them: "We are Goyim for them. They use and despise us, these people without a homeland and God. Today they are Poles, tomorrow Turks or French. They are in a place where it is currently profitable for them, and they drink blood from you. They are a cursed race, the godslayers. When it comes to their mind to say that we took our God from them, I always reply that they abandoned him and killed him, so that he never belonged to them, otherwise they would have recognized him. He was of a different blood, and they killed him. I won't hurt them, but they have to live apart from us, like foreigners. All those who have done something good will be left alone: veterans, those who want to change their name. I'm not destroying them, I'm separating them. Do you understand this?" ^{[1, p. 396]}. 

         The pathos of speech and explanatory notes indicate a conscious attitude to general structural moments, to the borderline state of this consciousness (to accept / not to accept a racial position, which I did not fully agree with).  This is already a personal explanation of his ambivalent attitude to the misanthropic theory, self–justification coupled with self-reflection, with which the "banality of evil", which Arendt wrote about, is no longer associated, because the evil here is not the thoughtless performance by a person of his routine duties, but his conscious choice (in which the weakness of actions does not matter). This is a personal choice of a person who has personal, at that moment, absolute power to transfer his individual worldview positions to the rank of social ideas, channeling them into newspaper lines, busts, quotations, proclamations that become the institutional flesh of society (ministries, institutions, schools) and give rise to a truly banal evil that is affirmed and gives strange hope – in In this case, the Jews should stay alive if they decide to change their name. Mussolini presented himself in the status of corruption, showing, moreover, a way to combine the personal with the subjectless-structural. For the last question, which was addressed to Petacci, demonstrates Mussolini's desire to show the difference between his actions towards Jews, which are, however, of no small importance, but discursively similar to the leader of Germany: "These disgusting Jews... it's time for me to destroy them all to one... I will close them all on a desert island. Or I will destroy them, as Pontini said when asked what to do with all these Jews. He replied, "Destroy them," and he is still considered great. They are scum, enemy brats and cowards. They don't have a single gram of gratitude, appreciation, you will never hear thanks from them. They considered my pity cowardice. They say that we need them, their money, their help, that if they are not allowed to marry Christians, they will cuckold Christians. Disgusting people, I regret that I did not act harshly with them right away. But they will still feel Mussolini's steel fist on them. I'll crush them. In the meantime, I have suspended the work of all stockbrokers. Then they won't be able to cheat, because I won't let them trade either. I will not touch [those who are already] engaged in it, but I will not let new ones in – that's enough! The hour has come when Italians should feel that these reptiles have no right to use them" ^{[1, p. 414]}.  Italian Jews were deported to German camps, became victims of persecution and repression. Their testimonies are collected in the special fund of the Central Institute of Audio and Video Heritage of Italy "I will tell you a story: voices of shoah" ("Ti racconto la storia") ^{[11, p. 316]}.

         As already mentioned, the Italian people reacted extremely negatively to racial laws, and B. Mussolini gave his comment on this: "Now everyone is mourning the Jews: "Well, what did they do, what did they do, poor things, how sorry they are...". Yesterday they would have torn them up themselves (the key word is "would" – A.N.), in their eyes they were exploiters, loan sharks, thieves. And today they are victims, and they need to be mourned. Weak-willed Italians with a tender heart open their arms and become vests for these Jews" ^{[1, p. 398]}.

         The Duce, as we can see, was very annoyed by the fact that not all Italians supported their leader in his hatred of the Jewish people. Moreover, Mussolini verbally attacked not only his own people, but also the Pope, who also spoke negatively about the cult of inculcated anti–Semitism: "How is it, because we have been fighting them for centuries, we hate them, and he says that we are the same as them. Supposedly we have the same blood! Ugh! Believe me, he is the enemy!" ^{[1, p. 411]}.  Thus, there was a split in Italy, because two institutions (the government and the church), which the people believed and trusted, radically disagreed on the Jewish question, but a significant part of Italians were more inclined to the position of the Vatican, which criticized racial laws.

         In conclusion, it must be emphasized once again that the public consciousness of Italy during the reign of Benito Mussolini was formed by the synthetic influence on it of both personal and socio-structural elements, which were based on both an active and passive desire to change it. The Duce's attitude towards Jews has changed dramatically since the conclusion of the alliance with A. Hitler, until that moment anti-Semitic notes in Mussolini's policy were not heard.  All the laws introduced against Jews were motivated by the desire to strengthen their authority in the eyes of the German leader.