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AMETSEGNA WASHA (THE CAVE OF ZERET) IN MENZ KEYA GEBREAL DISTRICT: FIGHTING AGAINST FASCISM AND COLONIALISM DURING THE SECOND ITALO-ETHIOPIAN WAR [Abstract ID: 0515-02]
The Second Italo-Ethiopian War was a colonial war fought between the armed forces of Italy and the armed forces of Ethiopia; it started in October 1935 and ended in May 1936. The colonial war ended in favor of the Fascist force and consequently this led to the five-year Italian occupation and to bitter patriotic resistance internally and diplomatic offence externally. However, the five-year Italian rule over Ethiopia was not a peaceful experience of colonial rule. They were continuously harassed by Ethiopian patriots and had to live entrenched in their isolated fortifications. Italians also committed several crimes against humanity: they used poison gas, burnt down villages and slaughtered civilians. In this case, Ametsegna Washa – some call it “the cave of Zeret” – was one of the forgotten massacres, which happened in 1939, where up to more than 4,000 Ethiopians were gassed and machine-gunned. This paper attempts to describe and analyze the forgotten massacres of the inhabitants of Menz in Ametsegna Washa (The cave of Zeret) by Fascist Italy in 1939. In doing so, the study employs qualitative research in which empirical data was collected from primary and secondary data. Primary data was gathered through qualitative field research observation and key informant interviews with direct victims, elders and experts at Menz keya gebreal woreda tourism office. Secondary data was gathered from books, published and unpublished journals, and historical records of patriots. In this light, the study employed qualitative data analysis and in particular descriptive narration. The findings of the study were that they attacked the mouth of the cave with artillery and machine-gun fire, and as a result more than 6,000 people lost their lives, while those who escaped from the massacre faced a number of problems. However, the palace is not protected and, therefore, the government as well as the other concerned bodies should give serious attention to preserving and memorializing the historical cave.