The Good and Ugly: The Italian Liberation from World War II in Pictures

   

© National Archives And Records Administration

A member of the American women’s auxiliary chats with some farmers dressed in traditional clothing in an Apennine village. Aiello del Sabato, Avellino 1944.

 Buildings destroyed by bombs, faces filled with despair, stoic soldiers, a worn-out Benito Mussolini, Pope Pius XII wading into a crowd of Allied troops, and a glamorous Marlene Dietrich performing atop a piano in a military hospital: these are only a few of the 140 photos showing the long, difficult process of liberating Italy from fascist rule. 

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  © National Archives And Records Administration
  Lt. Francis Mulhair from South Norwalk, Connecticut, a cameraman who served in the Signal Corps for 20 months. Viareggio, 1944.
  
  
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  © National Archives And Records Administration
  A soldier posing in front of Villa Feltrinelli, Mussolini’s former residence in Gargagno. May 1945
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  © National Archives And Records Administration
  With the end of hostilities, American soldiers and Italian civilians take part in a motorboat race on Lake Garda in July 1945.
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  © National Archives And Records Administration
  Crowds of Italians in Anzio wait to board the ships that will take them to Naples. June 1944.
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  © National Archives And Records Administration
  A member of the American women’s auxiliary chats with some farmers dressed in traditional clothing in an Apennine village. Aiello del Sabato, Avellino 1944.
  
   
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  © National Archives And Records Administration
  German-born singer and actress Marlene Dietrich puts on a show for wounded American soldiers at a military hospital on the Italian front. May 1944.
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  © National Archives And Records Administration
  An American soldier poses, wrapped in ammunition and the artillery flag.
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  © Istituto Luce - Cinecittà
  Citizens destroy fascist documents and symbols. Milan, July 26, 1943.
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  © Istituto Luce - Cinecittà
  Pope Pius XII distributes financial aid in Piazza San Giovanni after the bombing of Rome. Aug. 13, 1943.
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  © Istituto Luce - Cinecittà
  A soldier points his camera into the distance as another aims his rifle. 1944.
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  © Istituto Luce - Cinecittà
  An innocent kiss before parting for the front, observed by Mussolini’s Minister of Popular Culture (Propagandist) Fernando Mezzasoma. Oct. 16, 1944.
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  © Istituto Luce - Cinecittà
  Benito Mussolini visits a wounded soldier. 1942.
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  © Istituto Luce - Cinecittà
  A cracked facade seen after bombing. 1941.
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  © Istituto Luce - Cinecittà
  An Italian soldier in colonial uniform on the African front. 1941-1942. 
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  © Istituto Luce - Cinecittà
  First responders after a bombing. 1943. 
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  © Istituto Luce – Cinecittà
  Women praying amongst the ruins of the Church of Santa Anna. Caligari, February 1943. 
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  © Istituto Luce – Cinecittà
  A streetcar driver. July 26, 1943.
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  © Istituto Luce – Cinecittà
  May Day celebrations at the Arco della Pace, Milan. 1945. 
  Credit huffpo