Thousands of supporters of Italian dictator Benito Mussolini marched in his birthplace on Sunday to mark the 100th anniversary of the historic “March on Rome” that ushered in fascism.
Local police estimated the crowd at around 2,000 people, who gathered to march in the small hilly town of Predappio in Emilia-Romagna, Mussolini’s birthplace and the site of his family vault where he is buried.
Mussolini’s tomb is a place of pilgrimage that regularly attracts tens of thousands of visitors each year.
But Sunday’s rally differed from previous ones, with fascist sympathizers expressing their support for Italy’s new government led by Giorgia Meloni, the most right-wing to take office since World War II.
“I would have voted for Lucifer if he had defeated the left in Italy. That’s why I’m glad we have the Meloni government,” parade organizer Mirco Santarelli said, according to Italian news agency Ansa.
Marching with banners and a huge Italian flag, many in the crowd wore black in a nod to Mussolini’s infamous black shirts.
No incidents have been reported.
Some in the crowd raised their right arm to give the fascist salute, although organizers had instructed them not to do so.
“If we are still here after 100 years, it is to pay tribute to the tribute that this state wanted and that we will never fail to admire,” said Orsola Mussolini, the former leader’s great-granddaughter, who attended the event in March with her sister Vittoria .
On October 28, 1922, Mussolini’s paramilitaries invaded the Italian capital and seized power, marking the beginning of a regime marked by intense authoritarianism and nationalism that lasted until 1943.
Mussolini was shot dead by partisans in April 1945 in the last hours of the war, his body was later hung by the crowd in a Milan square and mutilated.
Although Italian law today prohibits the apology – or justification – of fascism, it is rarely enforced.
Traces of “Il Duce” can still be seen across Italy today, including his name engraved on buildings, while portraits of the dictator still adorn the walls of some government ministries.
The 100th anniversary of the March on Rome this year coincides with the new government of Meloni, whose party Brothers of Italy has neo-fascist roots.
Meloni has tried to distance himself from that legacy without giving it up entirely. She has insisted she never felt sympathy for “undemocratic regimes” and called the racial laws of fascism – which began stripping Jews of rights in 1938 – “the lowest point in Italian history”.
On Friday, Predappio was also the scene of an anti-fascist gathering to celebrate the city’s liberation from Nazi and Fascist forces on October 28, 1944.
