REHABILITATING WAR CRIMINALS. THE MONUMENT TO RODOLFO GRAZIANI

A political clash is growing in Italy after the dedication of a memorial to Fascist commander Field Marshal Rodolfo Graziani, a convicted war criminal. Graziani was honored with a mausoleum and a memorial park, all built at taxpayers’ expense, in a village south of Rome. He was notorious as Benito Mussolini's military commander in the colonial wars in Ethiopia and Libya, where he carried out massacres and used chemical weapons against the local population. The panelists will include: Lidia Santarelli (Brown University), Yemane Demissie (New York University). Moderator: Andrea Fiano (journalist and former Chairman of CPL). Respondent Girma Abebe, Former Counselor (Ethiopian Delegation to the UN). Historian of Italian colonialism Lidia Santarelli will discuss Graziani’s role in Italian colonialist wars in Africa as well as his interventions in domestic politics. The panel will also address the failure of international sanctions and protests against the first use of poison gas against civilians. Ethiopian filmmaker Yemane Demissie will show and comment his documentary work on Ethiopian survivors of the 1937 massacre ordered by Graziani. The program is presented in collaboration with the Global Alliance for Justice - The Ethiopian Cause. Hosts: Natalia Indrimi, Executive Director, Centro Primo Levi; Anthony Julian Tamburri, Dean, Calandra Institute.