Breaking the Silence: How the Asinara Project Transformed Historical Wounds into Bridges of Understanding.
1
0
A landmark initiative brings Ethiopian descendants face-to-face with their ancestors’ forgotten stories of fascist deportation
By Ethiopian Tribune Reporter
In the crystalline waters surrounding Asinara Island, off the coast of Sardinia, a remarkable chapter in Ethiopian-Italian relations has unfolded. What began as one woman’s personal quest to uncover her great-grandfather’s fate has blossomed into an unprecedented historical reconciliation project that is rewriting how we remember the darkest chapters of fascist colonial history.
Elfy Getachew Nouvellon’s journey began with fragments of family memory about her great-grandfather, Lij Haile Wolde Meskel, director of Ethiopia’s first printing press Aymero (now Berhanena Selam) and later Deputy Director at the Ministry of Armament. His death in exile in Sassari, Italy in 1937 had remained shrouded in the silence that fascist authorities imposed on their victims’ stories. “Thread by thread, this intimate quest has grown into a collective memory,” Elfy Getachew Nouvellon explains in her recently released documentary teaser, which offers the first glimpse into what promises to be a series preserving these recovered voices for future generations.
The success of the Asinara project stands as a testament to international academic cooperation at its finest. The initiative brought together a constellation of researchers whose expertise spans continents and decades of specialised study. Andrea Guissepini, a researcher and historical archivist specialising in fascist internment camps, emerged as a pivotal figure in the project’s foundation. His intimate knowledge of Asinara Island and deep connections with local communities proved invaluable in opening doors that had remained sealed for nearly nine decades. Guissepini’s role extended beyond research, he became the bridge between academic enquiry and lived experience, facilitating the crucial contacts that allowed the project to advance from concept to reality.
From the Ethiopian historical perspective, Ian Campbell brought unparalleled expertise. The renowned specialist in modern Ethiopian history has devoted more than two decades to studying the massacres that followed the 1937 attack on Italian Viceroy Rodolfo Graziani. His books and analyses have become essential references for understanding the full complexity of Yekatit 12 (February 19, 1937), when Italian fascist forces launched brutal reprisals against Ethiopian civilians. Though unable to attend the gathering in person, Campbell’s contributions through interviews and continued dialogue have proved invaluable to the project’s scholarly foundation.
The University of Cagliari provided crucial academic weight through historians Valeria Deplano and Alessandro Pes, both recognised specialists in Italian colonial history. Their expertise on the political, cultural, and social dynamics of colonialism offered an essential framework for understanding the broader historical context of the deportations to Asinara. Their work, particularly on the connections between memory, propaganda, and postcolonial narratives, has helped situate the Ethiopian deportees’ experiences within the larger story of fascist colonial violence.
Dr Alula Pankhurst, son of the legendary Ethiopian historian Dr Richard Pankhurst, played a crucial supportive role in establishing connections between Ethiopian and international historians, as well as diplomatic representatives in Addis Ababa. His father, who passed away before seeing this project come to fruition, would undoubtedly have celebrated this breakthrough in recovering suppressed historical narratives. Through these networks, the project connected with Professor Emeritus Dr Shiferaw Bekele of Addis Ababa University, a leading scholar of Ethiopian modern and colonial history. Dr Bekele’s assistance in gathering information during research on Lij Haile Wolde Meskel exemplifies the spirit of international cooperation that has made this project possible.
The delegation’s visit to Campo Faro cemetery provided some of the project’s most emotionally powerful moments. There, participants paid their respects at the grave of Gideon, son of Princess Romane Work known as “Golden Pomegranate”, the eldest daughter of Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie. They also visited the resting place of another Ethiopian deportee, believed to be Getabicha Tsemiru, whose burial location was documented in the daily diary kept by Kehanzmach Dehne Wolde Mariam. “This visit brought a deeply personal dimension to the historical narrative, as families connected with the final resting place of those who never returned home,” Getachew Nouvellon reflected. For many descendants, it marked the first time they could honour ancestors whose graves had been lost to history and official silence.
The project’s success owes equal measure to Italian partners who embraced the initiative with remarkable dedication. Paola Fontecchio, exclusive guide of the Asinara National Park and member of the Sealand Asinara Cooperative, emerged as a central figure whose passion for preserving historical memory matched that of the Ethiopian organisers. Fontecchio’s deep knowledge of the island’s history and her commitment to uncovering hidden stories shaped the heart of the programme. Under her guidance, the event featured memorable encounters including the Ethiopian delegation’s visit to Mayor Massimo Mulas, comprehensive guided explorations of the island, and carefully coordinated logistics that allowed participants to focus on the profound historical reckoning at hand.
The project’s success also reflects the extraordinary commitment of Elfy Getachew Nouvellon’s family. Her husband and children provided unwavering support, moral encouragement, and practical contributions that proved essential to the project’s realisation. Their involvement reached a deeply moving crescendo with the documentary film created by Sarah and Menelik, which gave voice to the deportees’ stories and created a powerful bridge between past and present.
As the Asinara project transitions from groundbreaking event to ongoing initiative, its organisers recognise significant challenges ahead. “One of the main challenges,” Getachew Nouvellon notes, “will be to build genuine scientific cooperation, enabling research to be cross-referenced and strengthening the transmission of this memory on solid historical foundations, a process driven above all by the descendants themselves, in collaboration with the Italian authorities and with the support of dedicated researchers.”
This vision extends beyond a single historical episode to encompass a new model for how nations can confront difficult chapters in their shared past. The project offers hope that other forgotten chapters of history can be similarly addressed, transforming silence into dialogue, ignorance into understanding, and historical wounds into sources of renewed friendship between nations and peoples.
As descendants departed from Asinara Island, they carried with them not only a deeper understanding of their family histories but also the knowledge that their ancestors’ suffering had finally been acknowledged, remembered, and honoured. In transforming oblivion into memory, they have ensured that future generations will know this story, not as a source of division, but as a testament to the human capacity for reconciliation and healing. The Asinara project stands as proof that historical truth, no matter how long suppressed, retains its power to heal and unite. Through scholarly collaboration, family dedication, and international partnership, the voices of Ethiopian deportees have been restored to history. Their stories now serve not as monuments to past suffering, but as bridges towards a future built on acknowledgement, understanding, and shared humanity.
The documentary series “Memory Alive – Asinara 2025” is currently in production, with the first teaser available on YouTube. The project continues to seek support for ongoing research and documentation efforts.
For more information about the Asinara project or to contribute to ongoing research efforts, contact the Ethiopian Tribune.
