Mario Roatta
| Mario Roatta | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Nickname(s) | Black Beast |
| Born |
2 February 1887 Modena, Kingdom of Italy |
| Died | 7 January 1968 (aged 80) Rome, Italy |
| Allegiance | |
| Service/branch |
 Royal Italian Army
|
| Years of service | 1906–1943 |
| Rank | General |
| Commands held | |
| Battles/wars | |
Mario Roatta (2 February 1887 – 7 January 1968) was an Italian general, best known for his role in Italian Second Army's repression against civilians, that matched the German one in the Slovene- and Croatian-inhabited areas of the Italian-occupied Yugoslavia during World War II. In his Circular 3C, Roatta ordered summary executions, hostage taking, reprisals, internments, burning of houses and whole villages, and the deportation of 25,000 people, who were placed in Italian concentration camps at Rab, Gonars, Monigo (Treviso), Renicci d'Anghiari, Chiesanuova and elsewhere. The survivors received no compensation from the Italian state after the war. The deportees had formed about 7.5 percent of the total population of the Italy-occupied Province of Ljubljana.
From 1934 to 1936, Roatta was the head of the Italian Military Information Service. During the Spanish Civil War, he led the Corpo Truppe Volontarie and helped Francisco Franco's forces. He was the Deputy Chief of Staff of the Italian Army from October 1939 to March 1941 and from March 1941 to January 1942 its Chief of Staff and helped in preparing for the invasion of Yugoslavia. From January 1942 until February 1943, he served as the commander of the Italian Second Army and operated in Yugoslavia. There he constructed a policy in which he attempted to eliminate the Yugoslav Partisans, helped manage relations with the authorities of the puppet Independent State of Croatia, and "greatly advanced and systematized" collaboration with the Chetniks. He also established the Circular 3C as a "manifesto for repression in the Yugoslav territories", urging "ethnic clearance" be carried out and stressed the need for "complete cleansing" of Slovene-inhabited areas.
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Wikipedia