The Fallen Hero: The Myth of Mussolini and Fascist Women in the Italian Social Republic (1943-5

Abstract

The history of women's involvement in fascism under the Italian Social Republic (RSI) in terms of the active participation of women volunteers in Party organizations, and particularly in the Women's Auxiliary Service (SAF), has never been adequately studied as part of the general research conducted into the two-years of the Fascist Republic, 1943-5. The SAF was formally instituted by a legislative decree which had originally been submitted by the Secretary of the Republican Fascist Party, Alessandro Pavolini, to the Prime Minister and approved on 18 April 1944. It was government's response to the demand of many young women militants following the reestablishment of fascism, now in a republican form, for a patriotic redemption from the dishonour of the unconditional surrender of 8 September. Its full official name was the 'Voluntary Women's Corps for Auxiliary Service in the Republican Armed Forces, the Republican National Guard and every other sector relevant to national defence' (section 1), and it was only intended to remain in existence for the duration of the war. Its