Italian Fascist War Crimes in Ethiopia - Societa italiana di storia ...

Italian Fascist War Crimes in Ethiopia 123
who noted that there was “a shortage of personnel in every field of Ethiopian
a d m i n i s t ra t i o n . ”
The problem was compounded by the fact that Leijonhufvud, at a critical
moment towards the end of 1947, fell ill with a severe attack of hepatitis, and
returned home to Sweden. On 17 November he wrote from Stockholm to
Colonel G. A. Ledingham, the secretary-general of the UN commission, that he
would be unable to return to Addis Ababa until “at least the beginning” of following
month. The Ethiopian commission, which otherwise would easily have
met the UN deadline, would therefore find this “difficult.”
Turning to specifics he stated that charge sheets against Badoglio, Graziani,
and Lessona, the ex-Italian Minister of Italian Africa, could be ready in “less
than one week” after his return to Addis Ababa. It might, however, be necessary
to lay the task of preparing the charges in the form prescribed by the
UNWCC upon another lawyer, who might require “some time” to familiarize
himself with the matter. He accordingly requested the commission’s legal section
chief to select reports, memoranda and forms, which might be useful to the
Addis Ababa committee. 60
Despite these difficulties the Ethiopian committee, in the ensuing weeks,
succeeded in drawing up charges against fifty suspected war criminals, from
which the nominal ten were selected for actual trial. Those so chosen were:
1. Marshal Pietro Badoglio, Commander-in-Chief of Italian forces in East
Africa, at the time of the invasion.
2. Marshal Rodolfo Graziani, Commander of Italian forces in Somalia, and
later Governor-General of Italian East Africa, and Viceroy of Ethiopia.
3. Alessandro Lessona, Italian Secretary of State for the Colonies, for much
of the occupation period.
4. Guidi Cortese, Federal Secretary of the National Fascist Party in Addis
Ababa, at the time of the Graziani massacre.
5. General Guglielmo Nasi, sometime Italian Governor of Harar.
6. General Alessandro Pirzio Biroli, sometime Italian Governor of Amhara.
7. General Carlo Geloso, sometime Italian Governor of Galla-Sidamo.
8. General Sebastiano Gallina.
9. General Ruggero Tracchia.