OVRA
| Organizzazione per la Vigilanza e la Repressione dell'Antifascismo | |
| Agency overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | 1927 |
| Dissolved | 1945 |
| Type | Secret Police |
| Jurisdiction |
 Kingdom of Italy
|
| Employees | 5,000 |
| Agency executive | |
The Organizzazione per la Vigilanza e la Repressione dell'Antifascismo (OVRA; Italian for "Organization for Vigilance and Repression of Anti-Fascism") was the secret police of the Kingdom of Italy, founded in 1927 under the regime of Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini and during the reign of King Victor Emmanuel III. The German Gestapo were the equivalent of the OVRA. Mussolini's secret police were assigned to stop any anti-Fascist activity or sentiment. Approximately 5,000 OVRA agents infiltrated most aspects of domestic life in Italy. The OVRA was headed by Arturo Bocchini.
In the aftermath of the attempted murder of Mussolini by the young Anteo Zamboni, in Bologna on 31 October 1926, a swath of repressive legislation was swiftly enacted by the Italian government. All political parties, association and organizations opposed to the Fascist regime were dissolved, and everybody who was proven to have "committed or expressed intention to commit actions directed to violently subvert the social, economic or national order or undermine national security or to oppose or obstruct the actions of the Government" could be sent into exile to remote locations by the police.
On November 25, 1926, the new "Legge di Difesa dello Stato" ("State Defense Law") instituted a "Tribunale Speciale" (Special Court) to try those who were accused to be "enemies of the State", and sentence them to harsh prison terms or even to death, since the death penalty had also been restored under the new law.
Priority was given to the reorganization of the National Police Force, known as "Pubblica Sicurezza" or PS, and the man entrusted to this task was a career Police officer named Arturo Bocchini. The new Code of Laws concerning Public Security ("Testo Unico delle Leggi di Pubblica Sicurezza" often abbreviated as TULPS) enacted in 1926 and revised in 1931, mentioned specifically a "Department of Political Police" as a special division of the force with the aim to control and prevent political dissent. Later on this division came to be known as OVRA, although its existence remained secret until December 1930 when the official press agency Stefani released a statement quoting the OVRA as a "special section" of the police.
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