OVRA

Common card · No. 301640

The OVRA, unofficially known as the Organization for Vigilance and Repression of Anti-Fascism (Italian: Opera Vigilanza Repressione Antifascismo), was the secret police of the Kingdom of Italy during the reign of King Victor Emmanuel III. It was founded in 1927 under the regime of Italian fascist dictator Benito Mussolini. The OVRA was the Italian precursor of Nazi Germany's secret police. Mussolini's secret police were assigned to stop any anti-fascist activity or sentiment. Approximately 50,000 OVRA agents infiltrated most aspects of domestic life in Italy. The OVRA, headed by Arturo Bocchini, never appeared in any official document, so the official name of the organization still remains unclear. Its former director Guido Leto claimed after WW2 that Mussolini picked the letters for name simply because they sounded mysterious and intimidating.

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