abyssinian atrocities committed against italian workmen

ifommunicated to the Council
the Members of th e League.]
a n d
.
Official N o .:
C. 123. M. 62.
1936.VII.
Geneva, March 19th, 1936.
LEAGUE OF NATIONS
COMMUNICATION FROM THE ITALIAN GOVERNMENT
[■Translation from the Italian.]
Note by the Italian Government. —
The Italian Government very much
regret t h a t they should be obliged to
make public such revolting documents.
These documents, however, give the
measure of Abyssinian barbarity.
ABYSSINIAN ATROCITIES COMMITTED
AGAINST ITALIAN WORKMEN
PROTEST BY T H E ITALIAN GOVERNMENT
TO T H E L E A G U E OF NATIONS
No. 208481/9.
Rome, March 9th, 1936 — Year XIV.
Sir,
In the early hours of F e b ru a ry 13th last, in the zone between th e Marib and the village
of Darô Taclé, an Abyssinian ba n d consisting of about 600 men was detached from a group
of about 2,000 m en coming from th e A rbaté zone and made a surprise a tta c k on No. 1 Roadbuilders’ L abour Camp of G ondrand and Co., situated a t U tok Em ni in the neighbourhood
of Mai Lalhala.
The labour camp, which was under the direction of Engineers Cesare Rocca and Roberto
Di Colloredo Mels, was overwhelmed, pillaged and destroyed; sixty-eight persons (including
one woman, the wife of Engineer Rocca) were killed and some of them horribly m utilated.
I transmit a list of th e nam es of the killed and tw enty-seven photographs illustrating the
worst brutalities p e rp e tra te d by th e Abyssinians.
The Italian G overnm ent is q uite aware t h a t m ilitary operations have necessarily a
character of th e ir own, and it certainly does not desire to constitute a museum of horrors
by selecting certain isolated episodes.
The present instance, however, is not one of military operations ; it is a case :
(1) Of savage and bloodthirsty aggression against non-com batant workmen ;
(2) Of bestial a tta c k s on wounded men and corpses, some of whom were totally or
partially castrated (by cutting or pulling off the genital organs) or subjected to
other horrible m utilations such as evisceration, the cutting-off of hands or the
gouging-out of eyes ;
(3) Of th e em ploym ent, as reported on m any previous occasions, of dum -dum bullets
w ith th e shocking effects of bursting and gashing shown in the attached photo­
graphs.
This a tta c k reproduces all th e typical characteristics of the various ferocious onslaughts
by Abyssinians in the last fo rty years against all the colonies bordering on Ethiopia.
it also shows the dangers and tre a tm e n t to which even workm en engaged on work of
benefit to th e com m unity are exposed at the hands of the Abyssinians.
We have here, in fact, a series of system atic and barbarous crimes which not only arouse
irrepressible horror, b ut bear witness to the uncivilised condition of Ethiopia.
1 would request you to be good enough to bring this note, and the documents accom­
panying it, to the notice of all States Members of the League of Nations.
( Signed)
S u v ic h .
S e r i e s o f L e a g u e of N a t i o n s P u b l i c a t i o n s
S- d- N. 8 8 D. (F .) 655 (A .) 3 36. I m p. Atar.
VII. POLITICAL
1936. VII. 3.
L IS T OF M ANAGERS AND W O R K M E N OF T H E “ SOCIETÀ ANON IMA NAZIONALE
GO ND RAN D ” K IL L E D ON T H E M O R N IN G OF F E B R U A R Y 13 t h , 1936, D I KING
T H E S U R P R IS E ATTACK ON T H E MAI LA LH A LA W O R K SH O P.
1. Engineer Cesare Rocca, son of the late Mosè, born at Milan and residing at Fornazza
(Novara).
2. Lidia Rocca-Maflloli (wife of Engineer Cesare Rocca).
3. Engineer Roberto Di Colloredo Mels, son of Cesare, of Udine (in charge of th e workshop).
4. Rag. Saverio Blanca, son of the late Pasquale (accountant), born a t Palermo, residing
at Turin.
5. Geo in. Francesco Salvini, son of Achille, born at C atania and residing at Messina (sur­
veyor of works).
G. Alcide Albieri Vallidoro, son of Luigi, of Copparo (Ferrara).
7. Enea Armigeri, of Loiano (Bologna).
8 . Luigi Barbierato, son of Giuseppe Luigi, of S. Martino di Venezze (Rovigo).
9. Giovanni Bello, son of the late Giulio, of Pergine (Trento).
10. Luigi Bendotti, son of Evaristo, of Pieve Vergonto (Novara).
11. Angelo Bertani, of Montecchio (Reggio Emilia).
12. Giovanni Bisquolo, son of Angelo, of Brignano di Bovigo.
13. Ferrino Boccaletti, son of Alfredo, of Novellara (Reggio Emilia).
14. Sante Bom bonato, son of the late Artebano, of Bovigo.
15. Giuseppe Dazzo, son of Francesco, of Malo (Vicenza).
16. Giuseppe Borzoni, son of Giovanni, of Gravellona Toce (Novara).
17. Cirillo Alessandro Bozzo, son of the late Giuseppe, of Rovigo.
18. Severino Brigo, son of Luigi, of Ornavasso (Novara).
19. Alfonso Buonanno, son of Salvatore, of Albanova (Naples).
20. Francesco Calzolari, son of Luigi, of Loiano (Bologna).
21. D onato Teod. Campanaro, son of Michele, of Castelluccio Valmaggiore (Foggia).
22. Mario Carinti, of Tossignano (Bologna).
23. Antonio Caruso, son of the late Pasquale, of Sannicandro Verg. (Foggia).
24. Giordano Cecchini, son of Celso, of Castiglione Cervia (Ravenna).
25. Augusto Chiesi, son of Pietro, of Castelnuovo di Sotto (Reggio Emilia).
26. Luigi Caini, son of the late Giuseppe, of Russi (Ravenna).
27. Giuseppe Cornacchia, son of Anselmo, of Riolo Bagni (Ravenna).
28. Ennio Corradini, son of the late Giuseppe, of Novellara (Reggio Emilia).
29. Antonio di Salvo, son of Acquilino, of Marzano Appio (Naples).
30. Bernardo di Salvo, son of Raffaele, of Conca di Cam pania (Naples).
31. Fausto Falciola, son of Pasquale, of Bave no (Novara).
32. Miore Gombia, son of the late Biccardo, of Montecchio (Reggio Emilia).
33. Angelo Ferrari, son of Lino, of Novellara (Reggio Emilia).
34. Aurelio Galli, son of Francesco, of Rovereto (Trento).
35. Alfredo Gandolfi, son of the late Primo, of Castello di Serravalle (Bologna).
36. Giovanni Gelosini, son of th e late Formenzio, of Novellara (Reggio Emilia).
37. Pietro Gentilini, son of Pasquale, of Tossignano (Bologna).
38. Corrado Cerra, of Riolo Bagni (Ravenna).
39. Antonio Giannone, son of Vito, of Calimera (Lecce).
40. Pasquale Lepore, son of the late Vincenzo, of Conca di Campania (Naples).
41. Primo Losi, son of Antonio, of Novellara (Reggio Emilia).
42. Arrigo Lucchini, son of the late Giovanni, of Mezzocorona (Trento).
43. Servilio M antovani, son of th e late Natale, of Copparo-Gradizza (Ferrara).
44. Bruno Manzini, son of E ttore, of Castello di Serravalle (Bologna).
45. Antonio Morgillo, son of the late Nicola, of Ariezzo di S. Felice Cammello (Naples).
46. Antonio Niguirito, son of the late Domenico, of Rovereto (Trento).
47. Antonio Pagliaro, son of Em anuele, of Formicola (Naples).
—
48.
49.
50.
51.
52.
53.
54.
55.
56.
57.
58.
59.
60.
61.
62.
63.
3
—
Antonio Piccoli, son of Vittorio, of Novellara (Reggio Emilia).
Giuseppe Pizzo, son of the late Francesco, of Trento.
Enrico Giacomo Radaelli, son of Luigi, of Ornavasso (Novara).
Nestore Righi, son of the late Achille, of Castelnuovo di Sotto (Reggio Emilia).
Pietro Ruggero, son of Francesco, of Brindisi.
Alessandro Scaglia, son of Pietro, of Fornazza (Novara).
Primo Scandellari, son of Antonio, of Camugnano (Bologna).
Domenico Schiripa, son of Giuseppe, of Bovalino (Reggio Calabria).
Biagio Spagnolo, son of the late Antonio, of Francolise (Naples).
Salvatore Sperti, son of Michele, of Brindisi.
Vincenzo Tartaglia, son of the late Angelo, of Trento.
Attilio Tori, son of Giuseppe, of Domodossola (Novara).
Almerindo Turzo, son of the late Alfonso, of Castellucchio Valmaggiore (Foggia).
Augusto Vanelli, son of Flaminio, of Castello Serravalle (Bologna).
Giovanni Vecchi, ofMontecchio (Reggio Emilia).
Salvatore Venticinque, son of Giovanni, of Francolise (Naples).
OFFICIALS P R E S E N T F O R V A RIOU S REASONS W H O W E R E ALSO K IL L E D .
64.
65.
66.
67.
68.
Sergeant Riccardo Vaccari.
Sub-Officer Cadet Carabineer Nicola L itto.
Michele Porcelli, driver of th e mail van.
Giovanni Desta, chauffeur in the medical service.
Giovanni Viscenda, son of Angelo.
—
P A R T IA L CASTR ATIO N A N D
4
—
W OUNDS MADE
W ITH
A CUTTING
INSTR U M E NT .
*> 0 , WmM
if ' ,
Figure 2.
—
to tal
c a st r a t io n
.
—
lvce
Figure 3.
L
6
—
—
Figure 4.
—
c a st r a t io n
AND
F ig u re 5.
—
to ta l
b y
D U M -D U M
ca str a tio n
and
7
-
pu l l in g
BULLET
cra n iu m
of
t h e
g e n it a l
pa r ts
WOUND
b u rst
by
du m -d u m
b u lle ts.
—
Figure 6.
—
8
t o t a l
c a str a tio n .
(Closer view of Figure 5.)
Figure 7.
—
c ra n iu m
b u r st
by
d u m -d u m
(Closer view of Figure 5.)
L
b u lle t.
—
Figure 8.
—
to tal
F ig u re 9.
9
—
c a st r a t io n
—
to ta l
a n d
e v isc e r a t io n
ca str a tio n .
—
Figure 10.
—
10
—
e x a m pl e s
of
c a st r a t io n
.
(In th e case of the corpse on the left, th e testicles have remained in place, but have been extroverted.)
Figure 11.
—
pa r t ia l
c a st r a t io n
.
(The extroverted testicles remain in place ;
the penis, with the skin of the scrotum, was found on the ground near the corpse.)
11
—
Figure 12.
—
—
p a r t ia l
c a st r a t io n
.
(The penis and the skin of the scrotum have been tak en away.)
Figure 13 .
—
p a r tia l
c a str a tio n , an d
PRODUCED
BY
w ound
A
in
D U M -D U M
th e
reg io n
BULLET.
o f
th e
le f t
a rm p it
—
Figure 14.
—
p a r t ia l
12
—
c a st r a t io n
a n d
m u t il a t io n s
.
(The penis is missing; th e om entum is protruding from a wound in the epigastrium;
huge wound in th e supra-thyroid region caused by a cutting instrum ent probably after death.)
Figure 15.
—
pa r t ia l
c a st r a t io n
.
(The testicles have been tak en away. The skin of the penis has been torn in th e process
and can be seen hanging around the extremity.)
ll&WiN
Figure 16.
—
l e f t
h an d
c u t
o f f
a f t e r
(The hand is placed beside th e head.)
d e a th .
—
Figure 17.
—
14
m u t il a t io n
—
of
th e
WORKMAN WHOSE EYES HAVE
l e ft
BEEN
h a n d
.
GOUGED
OUT
—
Figure 19.
—
15
—
w o u n d
m a d e
b y
c u t t in g
IN S T R U M E N T IN TH E LEFT TEM PORAL R EG IO N
AND
BR U ISE D
PRODUCED
Figure 20.
b y
—
WOUNDS
b e a t in g
h e a d
ON
THE
SCALP
.
c h o pped
to
b it s
.
—
16
—
Figure 21.
— - b u r st in g
c a u se d
b y
d u m
-d u m
b u l l e t
.
Figure 22.
—
c a u se d
b y
d u m
-d u m
b u l l e t
.
b u r st in g
(Small entry wound in the left mesogastric region ; the region of exit shows th a t the
whole lum bar region has been blown to pieces and the viscera forced out.)
—
Figure 23.
—
w o u n d
17
—
c a u se d
b y
d u m
-d u m
.
b u l l e t
(with complicated fracture of the left trochanteric region in the lower third of the left thigh)
AND
A
G A PING
WOUND
CALISED
Figure 24.
—
BY
w o u n d
A
CUTTING
c a u se d
INSTRUM ENT
b y
d u m
-d u m
IN
THE
b u l l e t s
LEFT
BUTTOCK.
.
(Both in the right arm and in the right half of the thorax and the region of the lungs.)
—
Figure 25.
BY
Figure 26.
—
w o u n d s
c a u se d
b y
d u m
—
18
w o u n d s
D U M -D U M
-d u m
—
c a u se d
BULLETS.
Figure 27.
—
w o u n d s
c a u sed
by
d u m
-dum
BULLETS.
BULLETS.
(Huge hole in the right side of th e tho rax and in the
right arm, w ith complicated fracture of the humerus
and two ribs.)
(Gash in face w ith compound fracture of the cheek­
bone, the soft parts of the nose having been blown
away.)