Thread by @NickWhithorn

23 June 1945, two months after the arrest & execution of Mussolini, in which she played a key role, Italian partisan Giuseppina Tuissi (nickname "Gianna") disappears on her 22nd birthday, almost certainly murdered & thrown into Lake Como. Her body is never recovered [Thread] >> 1

This thread deals with the capture & execution of Benito Mussolini & Clara Petacchi only as regards the part played by Gianna. You can read about these events in more detail in my (long!) thread linked below >> 2

https://twitter.com/NickWhithorn/status/1254074018887598081?s=19

Gianna is born in Abbiategrasso but lives in Baggio, on the outskirts of Milan. Following Italy's surrender in September 1943, northern Italy becomes part of Mussolini's puppet Italian Social Republic (RSI) and subject to brutal German occupation >> 3

Gianna's father, Umberto, her brother, Cesare, and her fiancé, Gianni Alippi (nickname "Galippo") are all active in the Gruppi di Azione Patriottica (GAP) partisan formations, in particular the communist-inspired Brigate Garibaldi (flag below) >> 4

Gianna works in an office at the hospital in Baggio, where she issues false certificates & permits to wounded RSI soldiers so they can avoid returning to active service & steals other blank ones for use by partisans. This comes to an end when her fiancé is captured >> 5

Gianni Alippi is arrested, along with 3 companions, on 30 August 1944, while preparing an attack on the 'Muti' Legion of the RSI political Police. They are tortured throughout the day and executed by firing squad the same evening. It is thought wise that Gianna should flee >> 6

After a spell in hiding, the Brigate Garibaldi assign her as liaison to the 52nd Brigata Garibaldi, commanded by Luigi Canali (nickname "Capitano Neri"), operating in the area of Lake Como. At this point she takes the nickname "Gianna" in honour of her fallen fiancé Gianni >> 7

On 6 January 1945, Gianna & Capitano Neri are arrested at Lezzeno, on the shores of Lake Como, while travelling on a secret mission to Lugano in Switzerland. Their captors, from the paramilitary Brigate Nere, transfer them to the prison in Como >> 8

They are both tortured but Capitano Neri manages to escape from prison after a few days. Gianna continues to suffer beatings. She is whipped, burnt on various parts of her body, doused with ice-cold water, left naked in the snow & locked overnight in a cupboard with a rat >> 9

After 23 days of torture, she herself admits that, unable to resist any longer, she supplies 2 addresses in Milan, convinced that, by now, her companions will have abandoned them as a precaution. Indeed, a Brigate Nere lieutenant records that the addresses were "false" >> 10

Gianna is moved to SS command in Monza & later put on a train heading for concentration camps in Germany. During the journey, on 12 March 1945, at Rovereto, she is released by a Gestapo Captain. It is unclear why, but possibly it is hoped she will lead them to Capitano Neri >> 11

Having been released & realising she will probably be suspected of "collaboration", Gianna writes a detailed report of what happened during her detention & considers seeking refuge in Switzerland but finally decides to stay and continue the fight >> 12

Even before her release, on 25 February 1945, a "People's Court", organised by the High Command of the Brigate Garibaldi, meeting secretly in a back room in Milan, has already found Gianna & Capitano Neri guilty of treason & sentenced them to death >> 13

Their comrades in the 52nd Brigade, however, knowing them well & trusting them, have no intention of carrying out the sentence. When they manage to rejoin their unit, given that "Pedro" has taken the rank of Captain in Neri's absence, the latter is appointed Chief of Staff >> 14

At this point, High Command has no alternative but to accept the situation but the death sentence, combined with events about to unfold around the capture & execution of Mussolini & Clara Petacchi will lead to the tragic end of the lives of both Gianna & Capitano Neri >> 15 (tbc)

On the afternoon of 27 April 1945, when Mussolini is found hiding in a truck belonging to a German column, blocked by the 52nd Brigata Garibaldi in the town of Dongo on the shores of Lake Como, Gianna is present with Capitano Neri & her brother Cesare >> 16

The operation is commanded by Captain "Pedro" (photo), who took Capitano Neri's place when the latter was arrested but Neri & Gianna are about to play an important role. In the luggage accompanying Mussolini & other RSI officials, large amounts of cash & valuables are found >> 17

Mussolini's briefcase, apart from secret documents, contains 1,750,000 lire in cash & 160 gold sovereigns. Cash, jewellery & gold ingots are found in other cases. Gianna, along with Bianca Bosisio, who works in Dongo Town Hall, are given the task of preparing an inventory >> 18

While preparing the inventory, it is learnt that a suitcase belonging to arrested RSI Interior Minister Paolo Zerbino has been left in the town of Musso, a few miles south. The column was blocked here in the morning and a group of 9 RSI Ministers & officials tried to escape >> 19

Gianna is given the job of recovering the suitcase and its contents to be added to the list. When the inventory is complete (two copies are made), all the cash, gold & valuables are deposited for safe-keeping in a bank in the town of Domaso, a few miles further north >> 20

At 6.30 p.m. on 27 June, Pedro decides Dongo Town Hall is not a safe place to detain Mussolini & Petacchi & moves them to a Guardia di Finanza barracks in Germasino, in the hills above Dongo. Here, Mussolini is asked to write a note saying he has been treated well (photo) >> 21

Very soon, Mussolini & Petacchi are on the move again, accompanied by Pedro, Gianna, Capitano Neri (photo, left) & Michele Moretti, nickname "Pietro Gatti" (photo, right). They travel to the jetty at Moltrasio, several miles further south towards the city of Como >> 22

The reason for this new transfer has to do with internal politics in the partisan movement, which I'll try to explain simply & briefly. Pedro has received orders from the "Corpo Volontari della Libertà" (CVL), which is officially the High Command of Italian partisan groups >> 23

The CVL is directly linked to Allied Command & wants to take Mussolini alive to be put on trial. Pedro is told a boat will be waiting at Moltrasio to take Mussolini across to Blevio on the opposite shore, where he will be held in a fortified villa until Allied troops arrive >> 24

The other main partisan organisation is the "Comitato di Liberazione Nazionale" (CLN). Although CVL is officially superior to CLN, the latter is directly responsible for organising "on the ground" operations & sees CVL as detached from the brutal day-to-day reality of war >> 25

CLN leaders in Milan, whose comrades have died, been tortured or deported, do not intend to put Mussolini on trial & have already ordered his execution. Pedro, though in command of a predominantly communist Brigade, loyal to CLN, is respectful of the chain of command >> 26

Thus, we find Pedro, Gianna, Capitano Neri & Pietro Gatti waiting at the jetty in Moltrasio with Mussolini & Petacchi at around midnight. By 1 a.m. on 28 April, no boat has arrived & the sound of artillery fire can be heard from Como, 10 km away, as Allied troops advance >> 27

Given the uncertain situation, it is decided to take Mussolini & Petacci to a secure house known to Capitano Neri, belonging to the De Maria family, in Bonzanigo. Pedro & Capitano Neri travel in one car with Mussolini, Gianna & Pietro Gatti in another car with Petacci >> 28

During the journey, Clara Petacci asks Gianna why a woman should want to be involved in such a dangerous activity. Gianna doesn't reply but Pietro Gatti says, " because you fascists murdered her fiancé." >> 29

There is a story that during this journey Petacci gives Gianna her small pistol with a silver butt and engraved initials as a present. It seems unlikely, however, that a pistol would have been left in her possessione, even if unloaded >> 30

They arrive at the house in Bonzanigo at about 3 a.m. Mussolini & Petacci are left here, guarded by just 2 young partisans, Guglielmo Cantoni "Sandrino Menefrego" & Giuseppe Frangi "Lino", who is a nephew of the De Marias, owners of the house >> 31

At this point, Gianna's involvement in events comes to an end. Pietro Gatti returns to Bonzanigo the next afternoon, together with Walter Audisio "Colonello Valerio" & Aldo Lampredi "Guido", sent by CLN in Milan to execute Mussolini >> 32

According to the official version of events provided by the 3 protagonists & by the Italian Communist Party, they are the ones who took Mussolini & Petacci from the house in Bonzanigo to Giulino di Mezzegra, where they are executed (see link below) >> 33

https://twitter.com/NickWhithorn/status/1255144132038627339?s=19

However, another version, recounted by Pedro after the war and supported by OSS documents dated May 1945, released by the Clinton administration, Capitano Neri is also present at the execution and is the one who finishes Mussolini off with a shot to the head >> 34

Internal CLN & Communist Party politics could explain why they wrote Capitano Neri out of this historic event. Soon, they were to eliminate him completely. In the late afternoon of the day of Mussolini's execution, 28 April 1945, Capitano Neri returns to Dongo >> 35

Here, he signs an order for the cash, gold & other valuables confiscated from representatives of the RSI government, listed in the inventory made by Gianna, to be delivered for temporary safe-keeping to the Communist Federation in Como. The order is carried out the next day >> 36

Gianna herself accompanies the truck carrying the "treasure of Dongo" to Como. Here, she insists long & hard to get a receipt issued by reluctant Communist Party officials. What happens to the "treasure" afterwards has never been fully established (another thread needed!) >> 37

Gianna now returns to her home in Baggio but is arrested & held in a barracks in Milan, where she is interrogated by Pietro Vergani (photo). Vergani, who commands the CVL in Lombardia represented the prosecution in the "People's Court" trial that sentenced Gianna to death >> 38

Vergani is a hardline communist & the pretext for imprisoning Gianna is to clear up her alleged "treason". She is finally released on 9 May & learns Capitano Neri has been "executed by a partisan Court". Indeed, Capitano Neri disappears on 6 May. His body is never found >> 39

Gianna sets out to discover what has happened to Capitano Neri, with the help of his sister Alice. At the end of May 1945, they return to Milan to try and get the truth out of Vergani, who warns Gianna, "you dodged a bullet once, you won't be so lucky a second time." >> 40

Gianna's bitterness can be felt in a letter to a friend: "the men who lead my party have taken away my honour, they have made it almost impossible for me to continue living, they have taken away the person dearest to me for whom I would have willingly laid down my life..." >> 41

"Even when you are strong as I was in the past...when you are accused of treason, when you see your companion die like a coward, when you know he lived for a pure ideal, you feel oppressed and you yearn to die..." >> 42

"...you suffer seeing the wickedness of certain men who represent our party, which should be a symbol of justice, with men leading it who should be pure of soul, but instead behave like fascists or worse." >> 43

Gianna has no intention of giving up her search for the truth regarding the fate of Capitano Neri, despite the warnings & threats received from Vergani & from Dante Gorreri (photo), Secretary of the Communist Party in Como, who received custody of the "treasure of Dongo" >> 44

On 22 June 1945, Gianna & Alice travel to the Lake Como area & meet with various members of the now disbanded partisan groups in an attempt to discover Capitano Neri's exact fate & maybe recover his body. Their presence does not go unnoticed >> 45

After a meeting on the evening of 23 June, Alice is given a lift in a car, while Gianna returns to their digs by bike. She is seen a few times on the route by people who know her. These people also report seeing a red motorbike carrying 2 people soon before or after Gianna >> 46

It is thought that the two people on the motorbike intercept Gianna and offer to show her where Capitano Neri is buried. At about 9 p.m., a couple sitting on the shore of Lake Como, on the promontory called Pizzo di Cernobbio see a motorbike arrive with 3 people aboard >> 47

After a few minutes they hear shouting & a woman screaming. There are shots followed by a loud splash. On 5 July 1945, the body of a woman is found in the Lake but it isn't Gianna. It is Anna Maria Bianchi, a close friend of Gianna's, who has been tortured & shot >> 48

On the same day, the body of Giuseppe Frangi "Lino", one of the two young partisans who guarded Mussolini & Petacci the night before their execution, is also found. The next evening, Anna Maria Bianchi's father, Michele, is murdered >> 49

In 1949, Pietro Vergani & Dante Gorreri (now Members of Parliament), among others, are indicted for the murders of Capitano Neri, Gianna & Anna Maria Bianchi. The cases only come to trial in 1957, when combined with a trial for the disappearance of the "treasure of Dongo" >> 50

During the trial, one of the jurors is hospitalised and the trial is suspended. Before the trial can restart, the juror in hospital "commits suicide". A new trial is ordered but never happens >> 51

Gianna's story is one of immense personal courage & loyalty in the face of evil and in the midst of the confusion, chaos, and grimness of war. All honour to her memory.

Giuseppina Tuissi "Gianna"
b. 23 June 1923, Abbiategrasso
d. 23 June 1945, Cernobbio