[hanamizu]

I don’t know, but I’d venture to say Leopold II was worse than Mussolini.

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I quite agree. I was going to ask about things in Germany, but decided against it.

What no one seems to remember is that when the Italian Parliament fired Mussolini, he went home. Later of course, he was arrested, imprisoned in a mountaintop resort/prison and was rescued by Otto Skorzeny an later set up a rump Italian government under Hitler’s protection.

Of all the dictators of WWII Mussolini has always struck me as the most human of the bunch. Perhaps that’s damning with faint praise...

[dfwgator]

Mussolini was a criminal who used mustard gas on Ethiopians. Even Hitler never even considered doing such in battle. Had his former wife and his son killed.

[nickcarraway]

He was no saint, but Mussolini and some of the Italian generals wouldn't do some of the things Hitler wanted, which they considered too far.

Goebbels complained about the Italians treatment of Jews - it was too lax according to him.

Mussolini did make some anti-Jewish laws, but he wasn't willing to go to the extremes of Hitler.

The Italians refused to deport Jews from Italy or Croatia to Auschwitz.

[untenured]

Yep. He seems not to have shared Hitler’s genocidal urges toward the Jews, who did OK in Italy until Hitlwr pressured Mussolini.

Mussolini was a demagogue, apparently a rapist, a dictator, a thug, a philosophical fool and an egomaniac. But he didn’t seem democidal in the manner of Hitler, Stalin and the Japanese warlords.

[dfwgator]

Skorzeny was an interesting character, to say the least. Actually went on to work for the Mossad after the war.