ABSTRACT
The Germans had set up Benito Mussolini's new regime on the western shore of Lake Garda in a quiet countryside ambiance where luxurious villas nestled among southern trees and flowers. The ministries were spread out along the lake shore from the little town of Salo to Gargnano, where Mussolini lived. The secretary of the Republican Fascist Party, was the rival of Guido Buffarini-Guidi, who was Minister of the Interior. Ricci and Preziosi played their own game, the latter having, in the eyes of the Germans, the advantage of being a dedicated anti-Semite. The Fascist Republic was officially entitled "Social," and, since the monarchy had deserted it, Mussolini asserted that at last Fascism had returned to its true character, which was republican and social. The survivors of Fascism who were ruling the Social Republic needed the blood of a few traitors and the Verona trial was a demagogic maneuver as well as a settlement of accounts.
