One hundred years after he came to power, the Benito Mussolini cult continues in the small Italian town of Predappio, where his tomb draws tens of thousands of visitors each year.
Many are just curious, but others are driven by nostalgia for a past that weighs heavily on the party that won the May 25 general election.
A white marble bust of “Il Duce” adorns the crypt in the family chapel in the cemetery of this northeastern city where Mussolini was born, while his sarcophagus is draped with the tricolor Italian flag.
“We will never forget you!” says a message in the golden book of condolences, others say: “We will be reborn” and “Come back!”
A young visitor with a shaved head moved a hand over the tombstone before giving the fascist salute to the man described as the “Father of the Country” on one of the tapes in the crypt.
Others, who came with their families, took a more nuanced view of the legacy of Mussolini, who seized power after the so-called March on Rome in October 1922, before establishing a dictatorship in 1925 that lasted until 1943.
“Mussolini was a great statesman. He promoted labor laws and social protections. But he made mistakes with his alliance with Hitler and the shameful racial laws,” said Fabiana di Carlo, a 42-year-old civil servant who was visiting from Rome with her daughter .
Her view is typical of many Italians who draw a line between what Mussolini did before and after his alliance with the Nazis and Italy’s entry into World War II.
An IPSOS poll last year found that 66 percent of Italians aged 16 to 25 agreed the fascist regime was “a dictatorship partly to be condemned, but one that also brought benefits”.
– Nostalgic Attitudes –
The legacy of fascism is being re-examined in this centenary year due to rising support for Meloni.
Their party grew out of the Italian Social Movement, which in turn was founded by Mussolini supporters after his death in April 1945.
In Predappio, many visitors said they would vote for Meloni.
These included di Carlo, who said the leader of the Brothers of Italy was “intelligent and competent” and expressed hope that she would become Italy’s first female prime minister.
Meloni insists there is “no place for nostalgic attitudes towards fascism” within her party, which espouses a Eurosceptic, nationalist Christian programme, although she has rejected calls to remove the MSI’s tricolor flame from its logo.
Her likely rise to power is causing concern both domestically and across Europe. But it’s around 24 percent in polls, as part of a right-wing coalition that commands around 47 percent combined support.
“I don’t think there is any danger of a return to historical fascism,” said Gianfranco Miro Gori, a local leader of the National Association of Italian Partisans, the name for the anti-fascist fighters of World War II.
“It is possible, however, to take action in an authoritarian sense and restrict freedoms, such as freedom of the press,” he said.
However, 39-year-old Ivano, an admirer of Mussolini who works at a vineyard in Cuneo in north-west Italy and who was visiting Predappio, insisted he had nothing to fear from Meloni.
“She’s not a fascist. She is Atlanticist and anti-Putin,” he said.
– Fascist souvenirs –
Mussolini’s tomb attracts more than 70,000 visitors a year, and Predappio has a high level of tourism, with numerous shops selling Fascist souvenirs.
There are “anti-communist” bracelets, swastikas, wine bottles with the dictator’s image, posters that say “Italy for the Italians” and even a “Fascist Handbook”.
A couple in their 40s from Milan, Giovanna and Alessandro, left a shop with a Mussolini calendar.
“We hope for Meloni to win the election. She will enforce compliance with the rules and safety,” Alessandro said.
Near the house where Mussolini was born and his father’s forge, an exhibition dedicated to the March on Rome takes visitors through the dark history of fascism.
Among 170 objects on loan from private collectors are uniforms, bladed weapons, rifles and faded photographs illustrating the black shirt uprising of Mussolini, their ties to the Catholic Church and industry.
“It is a cultural event that invites us, in an objective and documented way, to reflect on what the March on Rome was. It is not an excuse for fascism,” said Franco d’Emilio, one of the exhibition’s curators.
The goal is “to make Predappio known for what it is – namely, the Italian capital of the history of fascism,” commented Francesco Minutillo, a former leader of the Brothers of Italy.
