Posted on20 November 2009 at 22:54. Tags: alessandra, benito, blood, brain, dictator, ebay, fascist, milan, mussolini
Police were tonight investigating claims from the granddaughter of Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini that part of his brains had been offered for sale on eBay.
Alessandra Mussolini, a right-wing MP, said she was outraged and upset when she heard reports that the remains of her grandfather were being sold online.
The dictator’s granddaughter called police after being tipped off that three glass phials holding his brains and blood in a wooden box, and a photocopy of autopsy documents were posted on the auction site with a 15,000 Euro price tag.
“No bid was made during the brief time the advert was visible,” eBay said on its website, explaining the removal on the grounds that the company did not authorise sales of human matter.
Alessandra Mussolini said: “It’s a disgrace trying to sell my grand-father’s brain and blood.”
‘I am sure that these items were either stolen from the hospital in Milan and put up for sale by someone who had kept them or they could be part of the remains that were sent to the United States. I did not see the advert as it was taken down by the time I got to a computer but the police are investigating and they will be able to travel down who put the items on eBay.’
She said that the remains of her grandfather, who was hanged by partisans at the end of World War II, were normally kept in a Milan hospital. The television station said the hospital denied the claim.
‘This box of bones is what is buried in the family crypt. I am taking this matter very seriously and the police are investigating. I am outraged – it is disgusting and offensive,’ said Alessandra Mussolini.
Following his execution his body was taken to a hospital in the city and his brain was removed on orders of the Americans and sent to a top secret military base for examination – and never returned.
