ROME — Benito Mussolini was a fierce anti-Semite, who proudly said that his hatred for Jews preceded Adolf Hitler’s and vowed to “destroy them all,” according to previously unpublished diaries by the Fascist dictator’s longtime mistress.
He started as a socialist, he was an Italian Catholic and he later became a Fascist. None of these three groups are really known for being overly friendly with the Jews.