June 21, 1944
I have decided that as of July 1 the Party will be exclusively transformed from a political structure into a military body. Effective July 1, all those regularly enrolled in the Republican Fascist Party, aged between eighteen and sixty, who are not members of the Armed Forces of the Republic, will constitute the auxiliary body of Blackshirts formed by the action squads.
The other activities carried out directly by the Party are entrusted to the relevant bodies, namely: assistance is entrusted to the women's Fascist groups, to municipalities and to the other organizations; propaganda is entrusted to the National Institute of Fascist Culture.
The secretary of the Party decrees the transformation of the current Party Direction into an Office of General Staff of the Auxiliary Corps of the Blackshirt action squads. The Federations are transformed into a brigade of the Army Auxiliary Corps of the Blackshirts. Given the nature of the organism and its purposes, the command will be entrusted to the local political leaders. There will be no degrees, but only command functions. The Corps will be subject to military discipline and to the military code of conduct in war time. The Corps will be employed at the orders of the provincial leaders, who are responsible for public order and for the security of citizens, against assassins and groups of accomplices working with the enemy.
MUSSOLINI
