Ethiopian POWs during the Second Italo-Ethiopian War

Ethiopian Prisoners of War. During the Second Italo-Ethiopian War, the fascist invaders captured selected prominent Ethiopians as POWs and sent them off to different prison camps while the unfortunate ones were executed immediately. 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 kill off the educated class, sparing only a few notables who were transported to various concentration camps the fascists maintained in the Harar region, Italian Somaliland, Eritrea and Italy. While the majority of POWs who were kept at Asinara and other prison camps in Italy survived, thousands of POWs in Africa perished under the inhumane conditions they were forced to live in. According to famous survivors like Ambassador Imru Zeleke, conditions were worse in Italian Somaliland camps due to 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 Ethiopia's national hero Dejazmatch Beyene Merid would later contract tuberculosis and 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. Her line of family is represented by her grandson Prince Sebastyanos Beyene who lives in England.

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 being 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. 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.

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