Italian Marshal Rodolfo Graziani was one of the greatest war criminals in history. However he never paid for his crimes staying in prison for just 4 months. Graziani "distinguished himself" in Italy's war against Ethiopia in 1936. He himself was a fanatical fascist, suspicious bordering on paranoia and vindictive. He harbored great hatred for the Ethiopians and showed it at every opportunity.
In 1936 when his forces occupied the area of Diridawa he himself visited a church. But he tripped on the broken floor, where there was a hole, and fell. Graziani was sure that the Ethiopian priests had broken the floor for him to fall... The incident would be simply ridiculous if it did not give rise to a mad hatred of the Italian towards the Ethiopian clergy. On February 19, 1937, as regent of conquered Ethiopia, he announced that the Italian occupation authorities would give alms to the poor due to the birth of a new Italian prince.
Naturally a large crowd gathered. Among the crowd were two men from the Italian colony of Eritrea. One, Abracha Debos spoke Italian and worked in the Fascist Politburo. But Debos hated Italians for their racist behavior and went to the ceremony with grenades, together with his friend.
The ceremony began with Graziani making a speech and accepting the submission of Ethiopian officials. Around 11.00 the distribution of aid to the poor began. The two from Eritrea then started throwing grenades. They rolled 10 and managed, in the confusion, to escape. Graziani and other Italian officials were injured by the grenades. The devil protected Graziani who survived after 365 fragments were removed from his body! In the meantime, the perpetrators fled to the monastery in Debra Lebanon without the monks knowing anything. From there they went to the then British Sudan but were murdered by the locals.
Unjust slaughter
Back in Ethiopia the Italian reaction was immediate. Already at the time of the attack, the carabinieri had opened fire indiscriminately on the crowd, killing hundreds. Then Guido Cortese, an official of the fascist government, ordered the three-day massacre of the Ethiopians to "show their loyalty to Graziani".
"For three days you have permission to kill and do whatever you want to the Ethiopians," he told the Italian carabinieri and soldiers. And those with the slogans "Duce, Duce" and "Italian culture" wore... They slaughtered with knives, doused in gasoline and burned alive not only Ethiopians, but also Greeks living there as well as Armenians. Then the "civilized" were photographed with the abused corpses of the murdered. At least 30,000 innocents were murdered in the capital Addis Ababa alone.
Those Ethiopians who had studied, especially abroad, were also particularly persecuted. Many thousands of other Ethiopians and more were sent to concentration-extermination camps in Danan, Ogaden, Nokra and the Dalak Archipelago. Graciani ordered that the prisoners be given little food and water, resulting in thousands dying. After all, the Italians forced them into forced labor.
The massacre lasted until May. The Italians discovered that the perpetrators had stayed in the monastery of Debra Livanos, andGratiani personally ordered the local commander to exterminate all the monks. And so it happened and 320 innocents were executed on May 20, the day the monastery was celebrating... Along with them, at least 1,500 other residents of the area were murdered. This is what the otherwise considered "good" Italians did... The massacre in question became known as "The Massacre of Graziani".
Italians smilingly observe piles of Ethiopian corpses.
Dead bodies of Ethiopians are dumped from a truck.