31 October 1926

"Bullets Pass, Mussolini Stays"

"Bullets pass, Mussolini stays", announced Mussolini after escaping from an attack in September 1926. On 31 October of that same year there was another attempt on his life in Bologna, and once again the dictator proved to be right. The alleged offender, the fifteen-year-old son of an anarchist, was lynched by the crowd. Italy changed to a police state. Anarchists were followed, and police stations telephoned and telegraphed their whereabouts to one another. Some of these police reports and wires can be found in the Borghi archive at the IISH. Thus, the Ancona precinct circulates the personal description of "the well-known anarchist Errico Malatesta: 1.65 tall, normal stature, slightly bent, chestnut beard, moustache, and hair, oval face, small dark eyes."

See also:

•  Armando Borghi papers

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