The Waterbury Democrat., 1945-07-12
Mussolini's Widow
 Glad Clara's Gone
(Continued from Page D

said, half to herself:
 T was never close to him when he was high; I was always near him when he was down."
 I asked her when she was hap piest with Mussolini.
 Tn the old days" she sobbed We never had home, really, since 1925 when we lived in Province Ro- mana. We were happy there"
 Then she revealed for the first time that she and Benito once plan ned to emigrate to the United States long before Mussolini started on the road to empire and death.
 We should have gone to Amer lea when we first got married,' she said. We had planned to and we talked much about it. We planned to live there and raise our children there. But then Mussolini changed his mind"
 Mussolini's decision not to go to the United States came about be- cause he felt himself growing pow erful politically in Italy, and be- cause his friends persuaded him to "betray the proletariat, although his sympathies always were with the working class" she said.
 Asked why Il Duce signed the Axis pack that led Italy into war, she shouted passionately:
 Everybody is to blame for that. Everybody, from Badoglio Marshal Pietro Badoglio, premier of the post-armistice government up to the king.
 They all blame Mussolini. They killed him while Badoglio's mis- tress is now living in Switzerland with millions of dollars" Cooks For Inmates Donna Rachele and her two chil- dren, Anna Marie, 16, and Romano, 17s, have an apartment in the internment camp hospital and Rachele does all the cooking for the 42 hospital inmates.
 She volunteered to cook for the hospital because I must have something to do and I have al- ways done my own housework."
 When she first came to camp, the British offered her an army orderly as a house servant. He stayed 8 few days, but Mrs. Mus solini refused to let him do any housework, so he was withdrawn.
 The three Mussolinis are being held merely in protective custody and are not even registered on the list of internees.
 Camp officials said Mrs. Musso- lini sometimes took a walk inside the camps barbed wire fence, but had no other relaxation. The chil- dren both were described as shy, although they occasionally attended the camp shows.
 She said she has no property ex- cept what she brought into the internment camp with her-several thousand Italian lire and. Swiss francs, three gold bars and some bonds of unknown value.
 Asked what her present plans were, she said she preferred to stay on in British custody than be taken by the Italian govern ment.
 When told the Italian govern ment had preferred no charges against her, she tossed back her head and laughed, repeating that she was well-treated here.
 "The Italians never treated me so we'll" she smiled.
 She said she might eventually take her children to the United States and raise money to live on by giving lectures and interviews.
 Although she spoke somewhat bitterly, she acknowledged that she would very much like to have her children raised in America.
 Silent About Daughter
 Mrs. Mussolini refused to com- ment on her daughter, Edda, ex- cept to say, when asked if the girl had influenced Mussolini:
 of course she had influence on him. She was a very intelligent woman"
 She evaded a question as to whether Edda had spoken with Benito when her husband, Count Galeazzo Ciano, was killed on Il Duce's order.
 Many things can be said in the family when the doors of the home are closed" she said.
 She rose then to conclude the interview, shook hands, smiled pleasantly and started to walk out of the room.
 Suddenly she stopped short and turned around again; shouting,
 "Mussolini was a very intelligent man. Probably one day you'll realize it."
 She turned and started walking again, then wheeled to shout tear fully in an even louder voice:
 And tell them that I have said so."