After Mussolini had been stripped of power, he was imprisoned at Gran Sasso in the Apennine mountains. On 12 September he was rescued by the Germans in Operation Eiche ("Oak"). The Germans re-located him to northern Italy where he set up a new Fascist state, the Italian Social Republic ("Repubblica Sociale Italiana" or RSI). Many Italian personalities joined the RSI, like General Rodolfo Graziani.