Cesare Benelli
Cesare Benelli | |
|---|---|
| Born | 28 January 1885 Major General |
| Commands held | 1st Anti-Aircraft Artillery Regiment 24th Infantry Division "Pinerolo" |
| Battles/wars |
|
| Awards | War Cross for Military Valor Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus |
Cesare Camillo Benelli (28 January 1885 – 28 November 1943) was an Italian general during World War II.
Biography
He was born in
War Cross for Military Valor (during the Second Battle of the Piave River
).
He was promoted to
5th Army in Tripoli.[2] In 1941 he returned to Rome, at the disposal of the Ministry of War, and from 5 September he was assigned to the command of the 13th Army Corps in Cagliari, for special assignments.[3] On 18 October he replaced General Licurgo Zannini as the commander of the 24th Infantry Division "Pinerolo", stationed in Greece for occupation and anti-partisan duties.[4][5][6] On 1 January 1942 he was promoted to the rank of major general.[7]
During his command, the troops of his division committed one of the greatest massacres of civilians carried out by the
concentration camp.[11][12][13][14][15] Benelli bragged about the massacre, presenting it as an "example and warning for the future" and summarizing in his report: "Greek losses: killed during the battle: 8. Fugitives, hunted down and executed by the escort of the column: 7. Rounded up by the reinforcement company and executed: 16. Shot because they were trying to escape from the encirclement: 4. Shot by the squad sent from Tyrnavos: 8. Executed in Damasi: 97. In total 140 Greek subjects died".[16][17][18] On 16 June 1943 Benelli issued a proclamation stating that in case of sabotage on the Larissa–Volos railway, fifty prisoners of the nearby Larissa concentration camp would be shot.[19][20][21]
On 18 July 1943 he left the command of the division to General Adolfo Infante and returned to Italy, going to Rome on 19 July 1943 (the day of the first Allied air raid on the city) at the disposal of the Ministry of War, for special assignments.[22] He died in Chieti from illness a few months later, on 28 November 1943.[23]
References
- ^ Generals.dk
- ^ Generals.dk
- ^ Generals.dk
- ^ Generals.dk
- ^ I Comandanti
- ^ Divisione Pinerolo
- ^ Generals.dk
- ^ Domenikon 1943: quando ad ammazzare sono gli italiani
- ^ Italiani mala gente
- ^ Un villaggio spazzato via: la strage di Domenikon e i crimini di guerra italiani nella seconda guerra mondiale
- ^ Domenikon 1943: quando ad ammazzare sono gli italiani
- ^ Italiani mala gente
- ^ Un villaggio spazzato via: la strage di Domenikon e i crimini di guerra italiani nella seconda guerra mondiale
- ^ Mussolini Warlord: Failed Dreams of Empire, 1940-1943
- ^ Mussolini's War: Fascist Italy from Triumph to Collapse, 1935-1943
- ^ Domenikon 1943: quando ad ammazzare sono gli italiani
- ^ Italiani mala gente
- ^ Un villaggio spazzato via: la strage di Domenikon e i crimini di guerra italiani nella seconda guerra mondiale
- ^ Surviving Hitler and Mussolini: Daily Life in Occupied Europe
- ^ Fascism's European Empire: Italian Occupation During the Second World War
- ^ Mussolini's War: Fascist Italy from Triumph to Collapse, 1935-1943
- ^ Generals.dk
- ^ Generals.dk