ETH 403ETH 403
Photo album belonging to an officer with the 128th Battery of the 5th Blackshirt (CC.NN.) Division "1 Febbraio", based in Eritrea from 1935-1939. 300 photos (of which roughly 20 are commercial), all legibly captioned, plus a number of photos showing his earlier life at home and in the military. By November 21, 1935 he is in Massawa. Shown are him with Eritrean ascaris; hunting; Eritrean upper class posing for photos; local chiefs; Muslim festivals; local food preparation; locals exchanging goods; different local types; fraternity of the Italian soldiers and local children; camp life; the mountain chain of the devil “climbed by legionnaires of 1st February for the first time”; comical photo of our photographer switching clothes with an Ascari; photo of Division commander Attilio Teruzzi; the act of submission with local Ethiopian chiefs waiting to be received in front of General Teurzzi’s tent; collection of photos of a visit of Marshall Graziani to Asmara; Eritrean Governor Giuseppe Daodice opening a bar for the Division; standing in front of the monument to Giuseppe Galliano, an interesting collage of 12 photos called “a silent page of lived history” which shows the aftermath of an Italian victory; Mascal festival in Asmara; Ascari fantasia; the Axum obelisk, ETH 403ETH 403important photos with description of the religious points at Axum, such as the throne of David where the Negus sat, the tub where the Negus took his purification bath before ascending the throne. Our photographer describes the church at Axum as “the legend says that it was made by will of the eternal father, with the gold he rained down on the place where it is. In the opposite enclosure the Negus were crowned, on the throne of David. access to women is prohibited in it.” He points out the tombs of Emperor Johannes and ancient hieroglyphics. Rare photo of Degiac Ghellase, son or Ras Bairu, educated as a surveyor in Rome who built lake Mai Scium and built the ghebi at Axum. He died before 1930. Rare photo of the dismantling of the Axum obelisk and its transfer to Rome. Interesting photo of the business of the Muslim Hagi Ata Amed. Also shown are the Holy Saturday festival of April 8, 1939. Places shown are Salacla, crossing the Tacazze River, Mai Buia, Tzerima, Debra Lion, Dembenguina, Cheren, Asmara, Axum, Mai Scium. The album ends with him in Massawa in July 1940, so he likely spent WW2 there, despite the fact that the 5th CCNN Division had been disbanded shortly after the conquest of Ethiopia. ETH 403ETH 403A superb album. B
Price: $1800.00
Note from Wikipedia: The 5th CC.NN. Division "1 Febbraio" (Italian: 5ª Divisione CC.NN. "1 Febbraio") was an Italian CC.NN. (Blackshirts militia) division raised on 15 July 1935 for the Second Italo-Ethiopian War against Ethiopia and disbanded shortly after the war. The name "1 Febbraio" was chosen to commemorate the founding of the Milizia Volontaria per la Sicurezza Nazionale on 1 February 1923. The division engaged in war crimes in Ethiopia during the Second Italo-Ethiopian War.
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