Ian Campbell (10) (1945–)

Anyone who thought the Italians were the "good guys" of the Axis, bumbling, good-natured, soldiers who fought very reluctantly for Mussolini, should read this book. It shows that the Italians were just as capable of horrific crimes against humanity as the Nazis or the Japanese. In the 1930s, in a desperate build to build his dreamed-of new Roman Empire, Mussolini invaded and conquered Ethiopia, a peaceful, Christian country with a civilization dating back 2000 years. having conquered the Ethiopians, the Italians subjected the people to a reign of terror, torture and murder. But far worse was to come. On the 19th February, 1937, Yekatit 12 in the Ethiopian calendar, while the brutal leader of the occupation government, General Graziani, was holding a reception at his commandeered palace when two young Ethiopian rebels threw grenades at him. Several people were killed and Graziani was seriously injured, but what happened next was beyond belief. The Italians went mad, massacring any Ethiopian in sight. What became known as the circle of death extended out from the palace to the suburbs, hundreds were shot or beaten. However, after the initial shock had died down, things became far worse. Acting on a personal order from Mussolini,the Italian authorities gave their people a free hand to punish the Ethiopians, in effect carte blanche, to maim, torture and kill at will. The bloodlust went on for 3 days. Up to 20000 Ethiopians were shot, beaten, burnt alive in their homes, thrown off bridges or herded into hellhole prisons without food and water. Even after the horror had finished, many innocent Ethiopians who had been imprisoned were given show trials and executed. The event is commemorated in Ethipia today as Yekatit 12. There was virtually no reckoning for the crimes. Overwhelmed by the horror perpetrated by the Nazis and anxious to cultivate Italy as an ally after Mussolini's fall, the Allies all but ignored the massacre in war crimes trials, and the Ethiopians have spent the decades since fighting vainly for recognition of the crime. It wasn't until 1996 that Italy formally acknowledged the massacre had occurred. This is a massively disturbing book about a horrendous crime the world knows nothing about. Meticulously researched and footnoted, this a superb work of historical rectification of an unbelievable crime against innocent people, and should be placed up there with any book about the horrors of Fascism.… (mehr)