Zerai Deres

Zerai Deres

Zerai Deres (Ge'ez ዘርኣይ ደረስ) (1914 - July 1945) was an Eritrean intepreter and a patriot.

In 1938 he was protagonist in Rome, Italy, of public devotion to a Lion of Judah statue, an important symbol of his native country, which culminated in a violent protest against the Italian colonialism, that costed him the arrest by the fascist militia and internment in psychiatric hospital for seven years, until his death.

Deres' gesture, amplified after the end of Second World War, is considered by Ethiopian and Eritrean historiografy as an event part of the movement against Italian occupation. Still now, Zerai Deres is considered in both Eritrea [1] and Ethiopia a folk hero of anticolonialism [2] and antifascism [3].

Biography

The Lion of Judah at the Fallen of Dogali memorial in Rome, before returning
Lion of Judah monument, back in Addis Ababa since 1960

Zerai Deres was born in the kebele of Adihiyis, in the province of Serae, Eritrea in 1914 (or 1908, according to the Ethiopian calendar). At the age of two year old, he lost his father, so the family moved to Hazega, the village of his mother's origin.[4]

Zerai Derres was a young member of Tigress ethnic group who had converted to the Catholic religion. He attended at Italian colony schools, including the seminary of the Capuchin friars in Segeneiti[5]; for this reason he fluenty spoke also the Italian language, so much that he was hired by the Ministry of Colonies as a translator for the Ethiopian nobles who had been deported to Italy. In the summer of 1937 Zerai arrived in Rome.[6][7][2]

During his stay in the capital city of Italy, Zerai Derres closely followed the events of the colonial war with a growing sense of anger and helplessness in the face of news coming from Ethiopia.[2]

On June 15, 1938 (according to other sources on June 13), shortly before his planned return to Eritrea, Derres went during lunch time at Piazza dei Cinquecento in Rome (in front of Roma Termini railway station ) where, at sight of the sculpture of the Lion of Judah (symbol of the Ethiopian monarchy and the fidelity of his people, plagued as a booty of war by the Italians and taken to Rome [2] ) placed under the monument to the Fallen of Dogali battle, he kneels at his feet. As a small crowd gathered around Derres, an Italian military officer tried to interrupt in his devotion. At this point the Eritrean pulled out a scimitar, severely hitting the soldier[8] and screaming outrageous words against Italy and the Duce and praising the Negus. During the collusion were also injured a garrison who had intervened and other passers-by. Finally, two soldiers ended the attack, shooting down Zerai Derres with four gunshots.[9]

The episode was considered by the authorities as an action of mental illness: Zerai Derres was then deported to Sicily in the psychiatric hospital[2] L. Mandalari in Messina[10]

During his internment, Zerai tried incessantly to prove his mental sanity (he also wrote letters to his family, asking his brother Tesfazien to return the honorary title received by the Italian government), but he was never believed by the Italian doctors until the death in July 1945.[2]

After his death, brother Tesfazien Derres, former founder of the Eritrea Independent Party, struggled hard to repatriate in Eritrea the remains of Zerai,[11][10] who was buried in Hazega cemetery.

Reactions

During a period of tension, for political reasons Mussolini was planning to repatriate Ethiopia the Abyssinian aristocrats not welcome in Rome (in July 1939 remained in Rome only one ninety of them). That plan suddenly accelerated when June 15 Mussolini was informed that Derres, who worked as an interpreter for the ras confined in Rome, had shouted invasions against Italy and praised Selassie in front of the monument to the fallen of Dogali. Also informed that some people had been severely wounded in attempting to silence Derres, Mussolini bè come furious and ordered the total repatriation of all Ethiopian noblemen. However the repatriation slowed down, since every case had to be evaluated carefully: some Ethiopian dignitaries were suspected of inspiring Derres's protest, and it was preferable to exile them in Libya or Dodecanese.[12][13]

Lionization

At the end of World War II, the story of Zerai Derres was rewritten, dramatized and sung in Ethiopia to celebrate this hero of anti-colonial resistance, especially by the pan-Ethiopian who opposed the separation of Eritrea from Ethiopia.

In particular, due to prevalence of oral tradition, numerous and even contradictory details went to enhance the character, until he became a national hero in Ethiopia and Eritrea today.

Among the various reconstructions, there is the one that sets the story during the a celebratory event of the anniversary of the announcement of the Italian empire. The young Eritrean would have been chosen to take part in the military parade and carry a ceremonial sword that would have greeted the king, Mussolini and Hitler (although, as evidenced by the historical sources, none of the three were in Rome in those days). Coming to the Piazza dei Cinquecento and recognizing the golden sculpture of the Lion of Judah, to which his ancestors swore allegiance, Derres would have been struck by a sudden amok or impetus of anti-colonial patriotism, deciding to stop the step, kneeling and praying towards the statue- symbol; or, with a sudden feeling of anger, he would hit with the sword the first Italian found on his own path.

According to other sources, Derres killed at least five people before being arrested or killed by the fascists.[14] as well as wounding others, before he was arrested or killed[15] on the spot in a hail of gunshots.[16]

Remembrance

Zerai Deres square in Asmara, Eritrea

In 1966, when the statue of the Lion of Judah was returned to Ethiopia, during the re-appointment ceremony held in Addis Ababa , Emperor Hailé Selassié recalled the patriotic gesture of Zerai Derres. After the 1974 Ethiopian Revolution, the Derg regime had decided to remove the statue as a monarchic symbol. However, senior members of the War Veterans Association appealed to the Derg to consider the memory of Zerai Derres and his antifascist sacrifice inspired by the same symbol. This request was able to save the statue, which is still in the Addis Ababa railway station square today.

The first military ship in Ethiopia, donated by the US Army in 1956, was titled Zerai Derres. Then, to the Eritrean patriot was also dedicated to a Soviet made frigate, launched in 1968 and sunk in February 1991 near the island of Nocra.

The square where the Asmara's central post office and National Bank of Eritrea is located is dedicated to Zerai Derres's memory.

References

  1. ↑ "The Global Security Architecture, Human Rights Violations and the UN in the 21st Century Part I". Ministry of information of Eritrea. 2015-10-07.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Alessandro Triulzi (2015). Across the Mediterranean. Acknowledging Voices and Silences of (Post)Colonial Italy. Colonialism and National Identity. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. pp. 161–176.
  3. ↑ Alberto Sbacchi (1985). Ethiopia under Mussolini: Fascism and the Colonial Experience. Londra. p. 138., citato in Lionel Cliffe; Basil Davidson. The Long Struggle of Eritrea for Independence and Constructive Peace. p. 71.
  4. ↑ http://mereja.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=46873. Unknown parameter |autore= ignored (|author= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |titolo= ignored (|title= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |data= ignored (|date= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |lingua= ignored (|language= suggested) (help); Missing or empty |title= (help)
  5. ↑ http://www.zaratbebat.com/ታሪኽ-ዘርኣይ-ደረስ/. Unknown parameter |autore= ignored (|author= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |lingua= ignored (|language= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |sito= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |data= ignored (|date= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |titolo= ignored (|title= suggested) (help); Missing or empty |title= (help)
  6. ↑ Jacques Bureau (1987). Ethiopie. Un drame impérial et rouge (in French). Parigi: Ramsay. pp. 21–32.
  7. ↑ Hedat Berhane (1976). Zeray Deres, 1914–1945. IVth Year Essay. Asmara: Department of History, Haile Selassie University.
  8. ↑ "Abyssinian shot in Rome: An interrupted prayer". The Times. 1938-06-16.
  9. ↑ "Amok with sword: Abyssinian Shot In Rome". London Time. 1938-06-17.
  10. 1 2 http://ambayewoldemariam.blogspot.it/p/home-page.html. Unknown parameter |titolo= ignored (|title= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |sito= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |lingua= ignored (|language= suggested) (help); Missing or empty |title= (help)
  11. ↑ Nicholas Lucchetti (2013). Dallo scandalo Livraghi ai fratelli Derres. Saggi sul colonialismo italiano. Tricase: Youcanprint. ISBN 978-88-911-1701-4.
  12. ↑ Angelo Del Boca (2014). Gli italiani in Africa Orientale - 3. La caduta dell'Impero (in Italian). Mondadori. p. 273. ISBN 9788852054969.
  13. ↑ Gerrit Jan Abbink; Mirjam De Bruijn; Klaas Van Walraven (2003). Rethinking Resistance: Revolt and Violence in African History. Mondadori. p. 106ISBN=9789004126244.
  14. ↑ Pateman, Roy “Eritrea: even the stones are burning”, The Red Sea Press, 1998, p.59
  15. ↑ Imperial Monuments of Ethiopia
  16. ↑ London Times - Amok with Sword “ABYSSINIAN SHOT IN ROME” June 15, 1938

See also

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