Galeazzo Ciano in his studio
Seventy-three years ago, on the cold morning of January 11, 1944, Galeazzo Ciano, son-in-law of Benito Mussolini as the husband of his daughter Edda , married in 1930, was executed in Verona together with Emilio De Bono, Luciano Gottardi, Giovanni Marinelli and Carlo Pareschi, all guilty of having disheartened the Duce in the famous session of the Grand Council held on 25 July 1943.
A controversial figure and indeed not without dark sides, Ciano had been Mussolini's Delfino, Foreign Minister and undoubtedly the undisputed number two of the regime, but in the end he paid for his open opposition to the alliance with Germany.
So much has been said and written on this sad page of our recent history and so much more, almost certainly, we will have to say and write (and discover), but it would seem that it was above all Adolf Hitler and not Mussolini, however unable to save his life.
Before taking his leave of the world, Ciano addressed Monsignor Chiot his last words:“ Let my children know that I die with no hard feelings for anyone . We are all caught in the same storm “.
The tragic scene of the execution was filmed entirely by a German operator and is now easily traceable and visible on the net but, due to its crudeness, I did not consider it appropriate to include it in the post .