Roberto Farinacci

Roberto Farinacci (October 16, 1892-April 28, 1945) was a leading member of the Italian Fascist Party before and during World War II.

Born in Isernia, Italy, Roberto Farinacci was raised in poverty and dropped out of school at a young age. He then moved to Cremona and began working on a railroad there in 1909. Around this time period, he became a socialist and when World War I began, a major advocate of Italy’s participation in the war. After the war, Farinacci became an ardent supporter of Benito Mussolini and his Fascist movement. He subsequently established himself as the ras (local leader) of the Fascist Party in Cremona, publishing the fascist newspaper Cremona Nuova called later on Il Regime Fascista and organizing Fascist combat squads in 1919. The Cremona squads were amongst the most brutal in Italy, and Farinacci effectively used them to terrorize the population into submission to Fascist rule. In 1922, Farinacci appointed himself mayor of Cremona. Farinacci quickly became one of the most powerful members of the National Fascist Party, and gathered around him a large number of supporters. Farinacci came to represent the most radical, right wing faction of the party that believed Mussolini was too liberal a leader. Likewise, Mussolini believed Farinacci was too violent and irresponsible. Nevertheless, Farinacci’s career continued to rise and he played a considerable role in establishing Fascist dominance over Italy in 1922.

In 1925, Farinacci became the second most powerful man in the country when Mussolini appointed him Secretary General of the National Fascist Party. Farinacci continuously clashed with Mussolini, however, and resigned his position in 1926. Afterwards, Mussolini purged the party of thousands of its radical, pro-Farinacci members. Farinacci himself disappeared from the limelight, and practiced law for much of the late 1920s and early 1930s. In 1935, however, Farinacci fought in the Italo-Ethiopian War as a member of the Voluntary Militia for National Security (better known as the MVSN) and eventually attained the rank of lieutenant general. He lost a hand fishing with a grenade. In the same year, he joined the Fascist Grand Council, thus returning to national prominence. In 1937, Farinacci participated in the Spanish Civil War. A year later, Farinacci, a racist and bigot, became a governmental minister and enforced Anti-Semitic measures against Italy’s Jews.

When World War II began, Farinacci became infamous for his pro-German views. Farinacci frequently communicated with the Nazis and became one of Mussolini’s advisors on Italy’s dealings with Germany. For his part, Farinacci urged Mussolini to enter Italy into the war as an ally of the Nazis. In 1941, Farinacci became Inspector of the Militia in Albania. Two years later, he took part in the Fascist Grand Council meeting which led to Mussolini’s downfall. While the majority of the council voted to force Mussolini out of the government, Farinacci voted in the Duce’s favor. Nevertheless, Mussolini was overthrown shortly thereafter, and Farinacci was forced to flee to German-controlled Northern Italy in order to escape arrest. The Nazi hierarchy considered putting Farinacci in charge of a German-backed Italian government in Northern Italy, but he was passed over in favor of Mussolini when the dictator was rescued by Otto Skorzeny in September of 1943. Farinacci then returned to Cremona, but tried to flee Italy when the Allies took hold of the northern half of the country in 1945. Farinacci was subsequently captured by anti-fascist Italian partisans, quickly tried, and put to death by a firing squad in Vimercate.nl:Roberto Farinacci it:Roberto Farinacci