Evening star., 1944-10-01
CONTINUED IRON First Pagc,l

81 81
dn dark roads at night. ssnd Of OBJ
serving the miraculous wAy in which
escaped Allied prisoner1 were spir-
Ted out Of danger. They ordered
the Roman Fascists to crack down
On those responsible.
$50 it was that on November Is,
Guglielmo Pollastrina. one of the
more murderous Fascist gangsters,
stormed at the head Of assQuad into
the Offices of the Institute Rationale
della Providenza Sociale, where
Mosconi worked.
ssMaria worked there, too. Mosconi
was not in at the time Pollastrina
Called She was. While the black
xhirted thugs were still searching
the offices for Mosconi, she put on
her coat and slipped out Of the
building.
She ran all the way across Rome
to the apartment Of Mosconi's
mother, where she knew he would
be eating lunch, She told him what
had happened. :. She told him to
get away that she was sure they
would come there next He got out,
and she went back to the ofiice.
Twenty minutes later, Pollastrina
beat on Signora Mosconi's door.
"Fulvio?" said the gray-haired
widow. II have not seen him in
months"
The band continued to operate
throughout the winter. Caruso,
whom Mussolini appointed Roman
police chief in January, was ordered
to bring Mosconi in, dead or alive.
To aid him in this assignment,
Caruso had at his disposal, in addi-
tion to the, regular metropolitan
police, one squad of special Fascist
police. 81 - st,k&%
AT 8 am, May 10, -Mosconi was
to meet his staff" ins the Pinchio
gardens. The final Allied drive on.
Rome was under way, and he had
in his pocket the Badoglio govern
ment,s instructions as to the last
phase of the bands underground
operation.
He was little late to the meet
ing. Maria was not with him. A
subscriber to the doctrine that
women cannot keep secrets, he had
decided to 60 to this meeting un-
escorted.
AS he neared the meeting place,
he had the feeling that something
was wrong. Perhaps it was the two
policemen standing around as
though they were waiting for some
thing. 1t was raining. A dozen of
his men were scattered on park
benches, waiting under umbrellas.
A certain Babusci stood up and
advanced toward Mosconi holding
out his hand. A whistle shrilled.
and about 80 police jumped from
behind bushes to surround Mosconi
and grab the rest OF the gang. in
Guiding Babusci. simultaneously,
police cars shot around the corner
from behind q nearby house.
On the way to the central police
station, under guard In one of the
cars, Mosconi managed to hide un-
Ger the car seat the papers he was
carrying in his pocket.
Gives False Name.
AT the Jail, he was questioned
first. What is your manner"
He told them that he was Fran
cesco 1acobini, teacher at q Vati- |
can-supported school, and he pro-
ouced credentials to prove It.
Ihey said: 1T is a lie. We have
just searched your apartment, where
we found picture of you on q bi-
cycle with young lady on the han
dlebarS. Also we found this very
interesting map of the. Rieti zone
al the places recently bombed by
the Americans are marked on it
You are Fulvio Mosconi."
He decided he might as well be
shot under his right name. Then
at least, his family and friends
would know what had happened tn
hlm. Yes he said, Il am
Mosconi."
The fact that he was not shot
lmmediately-nor even tortured for
mformation-was owing to a juris-
dlctlonal dispute among interested
police elements. The SIS wanted
him, as did the Facist squadristi,
and Caruso was unwilling to give up
his prize.
Locked Up IL Days.
Mosconi was locked up for II
days. Although he had no bed and
received only 200 grams of bread a |
day by way of food, he was not /
treated too badly. He was ques-
toned daily by Caruso's right-hand
man, Roberto Oehietta, then known
as Raviola. Oast week, he was
sentenced to 80 years imprison-
ment)- They slapped him around
little when he refused to talk.
He began Immediately to study the
possibilities of escape,
Maria, meanwhile, WAS undergo
Ing refined form of torture which |