THE MASSACRE OF DEBRE LIBANOS Monastery

One of worst crimes committed by Italian fascism, Graziani during the Italian occupation of Ethiopia was the massacre of (Genbot 12, 1929) Debre Libanos Monastery.

On May 20, 1937 the Italian fascist General, ‘General Maletti’ surrounds the Debre Libanos Monastery on the feast day of the Archangel Michael and St. Tekle Haymanot, a great religious holiday. On this day the Italian's already knows that many pilgrims would come to this Monastery for religious celebration. The Italian troops invaded the Monastery after all the pilgrims arrived. Monks and pilgrims are loaded onto military trucks and taken away from the monastery, to be shot on the plateau of Laga Welde.

Each truck was filled with a variable number of people between thirty and fifty taken to a site on the far edge of a very deep gorge, about 500 meters deep. They shot the monks, priests, deacons and the pilgrims in groups, and the bodies were thrown in the deep waters. Altogether, they are killed by Italian troops around 2200 people which includes Priests, monks, deacons, pilgrims come to the monastery of Debre Libanos to pray.

Christ Rose from the dead!