The protest in Milan

"Only an idiot can think of dying for freedom. I'd rather be a breathing slave than a dignified corpse," Maria told her husband Antonio, who stubbornly enlisted to put an end to Italian fascism. Unfortunately, it was already too late. Just a week after starting his revolutionary adventure, the partisans had captured dictator Mussolini, his wife, and his henchmen.

They found him disguised trying to escape to Switzerland. The execution was almost immediate, and the next day, they displayed the corpses in Piazzale Loreto. That Sunday was different for the people of Milan, as they entertained themselves insulting, spitting, and throwing garbage at the bodies.

Faced with the outrageous spectacle, one of the high-ranking leaders of La Resistenza felt that the dignity of the movement had been stripped away, saying that the event was a sad "Mexican slaughter." A shadow of shame ran through Antonio's soul, and he soon returned to Maria's arms; upon seeing him, she gave him a kiss, and he returned it with a slap.

The Mexican chancellor drafted a diplomatic note protesting the pejorative use of the name of his country, but the ambassador never knew to whom to deliver it. It didn't matter much; people tried to forget what happened and focus on rebuilding their country. Today, Piazzale Loreto is nothing more than a massive traffic distributor.

"Today, on April 25, we celebrate that we freed ourselves from the fascists, meaning, from ourselves," says Patrizia, Antonio and Maria's great-great-granddaughter, laughing heartily at the corner café.