During the Second Italo-Ethiopian War, the Italians captured and either imprisoned as prisoners of war or executed selected prominent Ethiopians. The majority of the public executions and mass incarcerations happened in the wake of the assassination attempt on Rodolfo Graziani. The Italian occupying force gave permission to the black shirts to murder educated Ethiopians, sparing only a few notables who were transported to various concentration camps maintained in the Harar region, Italian Somaliland, Eritrea and Italy. While the majority of prisoners who were kept at Asinara and other camps in Italy survived, tens of thousands of detainees perished under the severe conditions they were forced to live in. According to famous survivors like Ambassador Imru Zeleke,^[1] conditions were worse in Italian Somaliland camps due to the scarcity of food, water and medicine. According to Imru Zeleke, tens of thousands of Ethiopians died every year.

Princess Romanework Haile Selassie, Emperor Haile Selassie's daughter and the wife of Dejazmatch Beyene Merid, would later contract tuberculosis and was transferred to Ospedale Maggiore in Turin from Asinara, where she died on 14 October 1940. She was the only child of the Emperor who was captured. Woizero Denknesh Teklemariam and Lij Abate Mulat were among the young prisoners at Asinara. Lij Abate was captured with the renowned patriot Ras Desta Damtew. Woizero Denknesh was rounded up with her parents who were all imprisoned on the Italian island. While the fascist forces executed the Ras and select patriots, they shipped off other notable prisoners to Asinara and elsewhere. In the picture seen below were a group of Ethiopian POWs held at one of the island prisons in Italy.

Highly educated and influential members of the Ethiopian Nobility and intelligentsia

Asinara prison camp

It is virtually impossible to find out the exact number of Ethiopian POWs who were imprisoned at different camps. The Asinara prison camp is an exception, due to its location in Europe and due to the personalities of the incarcerated individuals, the identities of many of the POWs and their approximate number became available through the years from people who kept records of their experiences in captivity.^[2] According to the book "Etsub Dinq" written in Amharic by Balemberas Mahateme Selassie Wolde Meskel who was one of the prisoners at Asinara, the total number of prisoners was well over 400. He came up with names of close to 279 notables he remembered. Ras Imru Haile Selassie spent a few months at Asinara and later transferred to another detention camp where Ras Seyoum Mengesha was kept before the former's repatriation by the orders of Amedeo, 3rd Duke of Aosta, the Viceroy and Governor General of Italian East Africa. Ambassador Imru Zelleke was never incarcerated outside of East Africa. In the picture below, LtoR unidentified Ethiopian, Lij Seifu Mikael and Dejazmatch Girmachew TekleHawariat at Asinara Island.

Members of the Ethiopian nobility held captives at Asinara

References