![Benito Mussolini (in the middle) with his “liberators” on 12 September 1943 at Gran Sasso in the Apennine mountains. Major Harald Mors, the German officer who played a key part in the raid, is the man next to Mussolini in the light uniform and dark cap.](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/Bundesarchiv_Bild_101I-567-1503C-14_Gran_Sasso_Mussolini_vor_Hotel-mit-Mors-Titel-300x225.jpg)
The rescue of Benito Mussolini: the real story and its Swiss connection
On 12 September 1943, a German commando raid liberated deposed dictator Benito Mussolini from the hotel in the Italian mountains where he was being held. The SS claimed the credit for the momentous operation, however it was actually a German major with Swiss roots who led the mission.
![Otto Skorzeny, ca. 1943.](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/otto-skorzeny-225x300.jpg)
![Harald Mors, photo undated.](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/harald-mors-225x300.jpg)
![Four of the ten military gliders that landed on Gran Sasso. Hotel Campo Imperatore is in the background.](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/vier-der-zehn-gelandeten-lastensegler-auf-dem-gran-sasso-im-hintergrund-das-hotel-campo-imperatore-300x193.jpg)
Propaganda documentary from September 1943 on the rescue of Benito Mussolini. Harald Mors appears in it several times. Archivio Luce / YouTube
![Benito Mussolini in front of Hotel Campo Imperatore with Otto Skorzeny (light uniform, binoculars) and Major Harald Mors (dark cap).](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/benito-mussolini-vor-dem-hotel-campo-imperatore-mit-otto-skorzeny-helle-uniform-fernglas-und-major-harald-mors-dunkle-mutze-300x193.jpg)
![Police-General Fernando Soleti (left) with Major Harald Mors (middle).](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/polizei-general-fernando-soleti-links-mit-major-harald-mors-mitte-300x193.jpg)
![Benito Mussolini in a Fieseler Fi 156 Storch airplane. The dangerous flight in which the plane was heavily overloaded, took him to Rome and then on to meet Adolf Hitler in Munich.](https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/app/uploads/benito-mussolini-im-flugzeug-fieseler-fi-156-storch-207x300.jpg)