YEKATIT 12, THE THREE DAYS ETHIOPIA WILL NEVER FORGET

The 12th of Yekatit is a date in the Ethiopian calendar (approximately February 19 in the Gregorian calendar) and is associated with one of the most tragic chapters in Ethiopian history. On February 19, 1937, an assassination attempt was made in Addis Ababa against Marshal Rodolfo Graziani, the Viceroy of Italian East Africa. Graziani was attending a ceremony in Addis Ababa when grenades were thrown at the Italian delegation. Graziani survived. The assassination attempt was carried out by the two Eritrean patriots Moges Asghedom and Abraham Deboch. In response, the Italian occupying troops committed a massacre against the civilian population. Estimates suggest that between 1,400 and 30,000 people died within a few days. Some sources (including a study from 2017) estimate around 19,200 dead – about 20% of the then population of Addis Ababa. People were killed not only by gunfire but also by stabbing weapons and military equipment. Houses and businesses were looted and burned down. People were dragged from their homes. Among the dead were men, women, and children. The violence was not limited to those associated with the assassination attempt. It developed into a campaign of collective punishment against the entire population of Addis Ababa. Many were arrested, including those who had helped the Italians identify the perpetrators, as well as members of the nobility and resistance fighters (for example, members of the Black Lions). “Black Lions” is the German translation of the name of the Ethiopian anti-fascist movement “Black Lions” (in Ge'ez: Tikura Anbessa). The movement emerged in 1936 in western Ethiopia, at the height of the Second Italian-Ethiopian War, when the country fell under Italian occupation. Its members were mainly students from the Holeta Military Academy (which had only opened a year earlier) and Ethiopians trained abroad. Prominent members included Ras Shoa Abebe Aregai, Yilma Deressa (a member of the Wolega aristocracy), and Hiruya Wolde Sellassie. The chairman was Alemework Beyene, a veterinarian with a university degree from Britain. The organization had its own ten-point “constitution.” For example, the movement affirmed the primacy of the political over the military, prohibited the cruel treatment of peasants and prisoners of war, forbade its members from leaving the movement, and instructed them to prefer death over capture. The Black Lions played a significant role in the early phase of the resistance. They even managed to persuade Ras Imru Haile Selassie (who had been appointed regent by Emperor Haile Selassie I in his absence) to join the armed struggle. Imru retreated to the south into the mountains to reorganize his troops, but on December 19, 1936, after the Italians had encircled him on the northern shore of the Gojeb, he capitulated. After that, the movement effectively dissolved. One of the most well-known actions was the ambush on June 26, 1936, near the airfield in Lehemti (near present-day Nekemte), where fighters attacked Italian troops. Many members of the Black Lions died during the repressions, especially after the failed assassination attempt on Italian Marshal Rodolfo Graziani on February 19, 1937. Among the few survivors were Alemework Beyen (who spent five years in Nokra prison on the Dahlak Islands) and Yilma Deressa. Although the movement's influence was historically limited, researchers point out that it aimed to give the struggle a more consistent ideological and political direction. The memory of the Black Lions lives on in Ethiopia – for example, a hospital (Black Lion Hospital) and a high school (Tikur Anbessa High School) are named after them. Since then, Ethiopians have commemorated the victims of this tragedy annually. In Addis Ababa, at Sidist Kilo Square (also known as Yekatit 12 Square), a monument was erected in memory of the victims. It was created by Croatian sculptor Antun Augustinčić. The monument commemorates the resilience of the Ethiopian people. Information panels surround the monument and explain the historical context.