How Hitler saved Mussolini from imprisonment during World War II

By the summer of 1943, Italy faced a dire situation. The Allies launched Operation Husky on July 9, beginning the invasion of Sicily.

Under General Dwight D. Eisenhower’s command, British and American forces executed a coordinated amphibious and airborne assault.

The operation aimed to secure a strategic foothold in the Mediterranean, disrupt Axis supply lines, and push Italy toward surrender.

Sicily’s defenses, under the command of Italian General Alfredo Guzzoni, quickly crumbled.

German and Italian troops fought to hold the island, but Allied forces advanced with relentless speed.

By August 17, Messina fell, and the Allies declared victory on the island. 

Within Italy, Mussolini’s government faced growing internal dissent. By mid-1943, many Italians viewed the war as a hopeless endeavor.

Bombing campaigns devastated cities like Rome, Naples, and Milan, which were already suffering from food shortages and economic collapse.

King Victor Emmanuel III, along with senior officials in the Italian government, began to lose confidence in Mussolini’s leadership.  

On July 24, during a tense meeting of the Fascist Grand Council, key members, including Dino Grandi and Giuseppe Bottai, proposed a motion to remove Mussolini from power.

This resolution passed by a vote of 19 to 7. Grandi’s motion gave King Victor Emmanuel III the legal authority to depose Mussolini and assume control of the government.   

On July 25, Mussolini met with King Victor Emmanuel III at the royal palace in Rome.

Courteously but firmly, the king informed Mussolini that he was dismissed as Prime Minister.

He expressed concern over Mussolini’s failure to protect Italy from both Allied invasions and internal dissent.

Marshal Pietro Badoglio, a respected but cautious military leader, was immediately named as Mussolini’s successor.

Mussolini, who appeared stunned by this decision, left the meeting believing he would be permitted to retire quietly.

However, as he exited the palace, he was discreetly arrested by members of the Carabinieri under orders from the king. 

Initially, Mussolini was held at a Carabinieri barracks in Rome, but authorities feared that German intelligence might discover his location.

To prevent a rescue attempt, the Italian government transferred him to a series of increasingly remote and secure locations.

First, he was moved to the island of Ponza, and later to the island of La Maddalena off Sardinia.

Finally, on August 28, Mussolini was taken to the Gran Sasso, a remote mountain plateau in the Abruzzo region.

There, he was imprisoned at the Hotel Campo Imperatore, which was a heavily guarded and isolated site deemed impenetrable to outside forces. 

Throughout this period, Mussolini’s treatment by the Italian authorities remained paradoxically cautious.

Officials ensured that he was kept alive and relatively comfortable, fearing retaliation from Germany if he were harmed.

However, his removal from power was an unmistakable signal that Italy’s Fascist regime had collapsed.

The new Badoglio government publicly declared its continued alliance with Germany but secretly negotiated with the Allies, positioning itself for an eventual surrender. 

When Hitler learned of Mussolini’s arrest on July 25, 1943, he reacted with immediate outrage and alarm.

Mussolini’s removal was seen as a personal betrayal and a grave threat to the Axis alliance.

Hitler had relied on Mussolini as both a political ally and ideological partner, viewing the Italian dictator as integral to the survival of fascist cooperation against the Allies.

The collapse of Mussolini’s government created a significant risk that Italy would defect to the Allies or descend into chaos. 

Determined to act swiftly, Hitler convened an emergency meeting with his closest advisors, including Heinrich Himmler and Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel.

He ordered the German military to secure northern Italy and prevent the Italian armed forces from turning against Germany.

Simultaneously, Hitler directed SS officer Otto Skorzeny to locate Mussolini and devise a rescue operation.

Hitler’s political motivations were clear. Restoring Mussolini would stabilize northern Italy, keep its industrial and military assets under Axis control, and provide a counterbalance to growing anti-fascist sentiment in the region.

Hitler feared that without Mussolini, Italy’s surrender to the Allies would become inevitable. 

 By rescuing his ally, Hitler could demonstrate Germany’s capability to act decisively, even as the Axis suffered setbacks.

Additionally, he believed that a restored Mussolini, leading a puppet government, would serve German interests more effectively than a fractured Italian state.

Hitler’s decision to intervene was not merely a strategic calculation but also reflected his deep commitment to fascist ideology.

Mussolini represented the partnership that Hitler had cultivated since the 1930s, and his arrest was perceived as a direct assault on the Axis vision. 

In August 1943, planning for Mussolini’s rescue began. Hitler tasked the SS and Wehrmacht with developing a strategy, entrusting the mission to General Kurt Student, a pioneer of German airborne operations.

To bolster the effort, Skorzeny was given explicit instructions to find Mussolini and devise a method to extract him, regardless of the risks involved. 

German agents discovered that Mussolini had been moved multiple times before being confined to the remote Hotel Campo Imperatore, perched 9,200 feet above sea level and accessible only by cable car.

The rescue required a specialized approach that combined precision, speed, and surprise.

German planners, in consultation with Skorzeny, decided on an airborne assault using gliders, which were silent and capable of landing in the narrow space surrounding the hotel. 

Skorzeny personally scouted potential approaches for the operation. He accompanied reconnaissance flights over Gran Sasso and examined aerial photographs, which confirmed the feasibility of the glider landing.

Specifically, the operation involved 12 DFS 230 gliders, each carrying nine commandos.

These lightweight aircraft were chosen for their maneuverability and ability to land on uneven terrain.

The commandos would then storm the hotel, neutralize the guards, and extract Mussolini via a light reconnaissance aircraft, which would land and take off from a nearby clearing. 

In preparation, Luftwaffe pilots practiced landing in simulated mountain conditions, and commandos trained extensively for close-quarters combat.

In fact, the planning process accounted for every detail, from securing Mussolini unharmed to the possibility of sabotage by Italian loyalists.

By early September, all preparations were finalized, and Skorzeny reported to Hitler that the mission, now officially named Operation Oak, was ready to proceed. 

On September 12, 1943, the raid began with the twelve DFS 230 gliders carrying German commandos, including SS officer Otto Skorzeny, launching from Pratica di Mare Airfield near Rome.

The gliders, towed by Junkers Ju 52 aircraft, were released over the Gran Sasso plateau.

The pilots successfully steered the gliders onto a small landing zone near the Hotel Campo Imperatore. 

As soon as they landed, the commandos stormed the hotel. The approximately 200 Italian guards were taken by surprise, offered little resistance, and were quickly disarmed without a single shot being fired.

Mussolini appeared both relieved and bewildered when Skorzeny entered his quarters.

The commandos escorted him outside, where a small Fieseler Fi 156 Storch aircraft waited to transport him to safety. 

Skorzeny insisted on accompanying Mussolini, despite the added weight risking the aircraft's ability to take off.

The pilot managed a short takeoff run, and the plane lifted into the thin mountain air.

It carried Mussolini and Skorzeny to a German-controlled airfield in Rome, where Mussolini was greeted as a hero by Nazi officials.

The entire operation was completed in less than two hours and succeeded without casualties.

Mussolini was flown to Germany later that day, where he met with Hitler to discuss plans for the formation of the Italian Social Republic. 

Following Mussolini’s dramatic rescue, Adolf Hitler reinstated him as the leader of the newly created Italian Social Republic on September 23, 1943.

This puppet state, also known as the Republic of Salò, since it operated from Salò on the shores of Lake Gard, was established in Northern Italy.

Mussolini, who was physically weakened and politically diminished, was tasked with restoring fascist order in the territories still under Axis occupation.

The republic claimed control over the northern and central regions of Italy, but in reality, it relied entirely on German military support to enforce its rule. 

Politically, the Italian Social Republic served as a propaganda tool for the Axis powers, but its existence deepened divisions within Italy.

Resistance movements, supported by the Allies and the Badoglio government in the south, gained momentum as Mussolini’s regime became synonymous with German oppression.

The republic instituted brutal policies, including forced conscription and harsh crackdowns on dissent.

In a grim reflection of its lack of autonomy, Mussolini oversaw purges against former fascists who had turned against him, including the execution of his son-in-law, Galeazzo Ciano, in January 1944.

These actions alienated even former supporters. 

Militarily, the establishment of the Italian Social Republic created a precarious situation for both the Axis and the Allies.

German troops, stretched thin across multiple fronts, were forced to devote significant resources to defending Northern Italy.

The Republic of Salò’s military contributions were minimal and consisted largely of poorly trained conscripts who faced low morale and desertions.

As a consequence, the Axis war effort in Italy became increasingly unsustainable.

The Allied advance from the south, spearheaded by British and American forces, steadily pushed German and fascist troops northward, culminating in the liberation of Rome in June 1944. 

Ultimately, Mussolini’s reinstatement did little to change the course of the war or secure lasting stability in Northern Italy.

His authority remained symbolic, and his government existed as an extension of Nazi occupation rather than a true fascist resurgence.

By the spring of 1945, the Italian Social Republic collapsed as Allied forces broke through German defenses in the Po Valley.

Mussolini, captured by Italian partisans, was executed on April 28, 1945.