Marocchinate

Moroccan soldiers at Monte Cassino, January 1944

Marocchinate (pronounced [marokkiˈnate], Italian for "Moroccans’ deeds") is a term applied to the mass rape and killings committed during World War II after the Battle of Monte Cassino in Italy. These were committed mainly by the Moroccan Goumiers, colonial troops of the French Expeditionary Corps (FEC),^[1] commanded by General Alphonse Juin, and mostly targeted civilian women and girls (as well as a few men and boys) in the rural area between Naples and Rome, traditionally known in Italian as Ciociaria.

The monument "Mamma Ciociara" was erected in remembrance of the Marocchinate women, particularly those who were killed during the military campaign.

Background

Goumiers were colonial irregular troops forming the "Goums Marocains", which were approximately company-sized units rather loosely grouped in "Tabors" (battalions) and Groups (regiments). Three of the units, the 1st, 3rd and 4th Groupements de Tabors, served in the FEC along with the four regular divisions: the 1st Free French Division, the 2nd Moroccan Infantry Division, the 3rd Algerian Infantry Division and the 4th Moroccan Mountain Division. The French: Goums Marocains were commanded by General Augustin Guillaume.

Regular Moroccan troops (tirailleurs Marocain) also served in Italy but under tighter discipline and with a higher proportion of officers than the irregular goumiers.

On May 14, 1944, the Goumiers travelled over seemingly impassable terrain in the Aurunci Mountains, outflanked the German defence in the adjacent Liri valley, materially assisting the British XIII Corps of the British Eighth Army, to break the Gustav Line and advance to the next Wehrmacht prepared defensive position, the Hitler Line.

A statement by General Alphonse Juin before the battle said: "For fifty hours you will be the absolute masters of what you will find beyond the enemy. Nobody will punish you for what you will do, nobody will ask you about what you will get up to."^[2] Recent research has showed this statement was confirmed by facts.^[3]

Until 1944 the Italian government showed interest and preoccupation for the continuing violence and gathered information about the victims ^[4]. By December 1948 there were 30,000 cases submitted to Italian authorities but funds were scarce because of war indemnities Italy had to pay to France and this issue was an obstacle on the restoration of diplomatic relations with France ^[5]. For these reasons many demands were rejected and the victims had to prove a permanent physical damage ^[6]

Mass rape

Monte Cassino was captured by the Allies on May 18, 1944. The next night, thousands of Goumiers and other colonial troops scoured the slopes of the hills surrounding the town and the villages of Ciociaria (in South Latium). Italian victims' associations such as Associazione Nazionale Vittime delle Marocchinate alleged that 60,000 women, ranging in age from 11 to 86, suffered from violence, when village after village came under control of the Goumiers. Estimates made by the Italian Ministry of Defence in 1997 set the figure at 2,000 to 3,000 female victims.^[7] The number of men killed has been estimated at 800.^[8] In fact, due to incomplete reports of the crimes, a precise account is impossible.^[9]

The mayor of Esperia, a comune in the Province of Frosinone, reported that in his town, 700 women out of 2,500 inhabitants were raped, resulting in many deaths. According to Italian victims associations, a total of more than 7,000 civilians, including children, were raped by Goumiers.^[10]

Cultural depictions

In Castro dei Volsci, a monument called the "Mamma Ciociara" now stands to remember all the mothers who tried in vain to defend themselves and their daughters.^[11][12]

In 1957, the Italian writer Alberto Moravia wrote the novel La Ciociara based on the mass rape. It is the drama of a mother and her daughter, both raped by the Goumiers. The novel was made into a movie, Two Women, directed by Vittorio de Sica and starring Sophia Loren, for which Loren won the Academy Award for Best Actress, the first time it was awarded for a non-English-speaking role.

Claims of exaggeration

Other sources like French Marshal Jean de Lattre de Tassigny claimed that such cases were isolated events exploited by German propaganda to smear allies, particularly French troops.^[13]

See also

• Battle of Monte Cassino

Notes

References

• Baris, Tommaso. "Le corps expéditionnaire français en Italie – Violences des " libérateurs " durant l'été 1944" [The French Expeditionary Corps in Italy – Violence of the "liberators" during the summer of 1944] (in French).
• Baris, Tommaso (2004). Tra due fuochi: Esperienza e memoria della guerra lungo la linea Gustav (in Italian). Laterza. ISBN 978-88-420-7108-2.
• Bimberg, Edward L. "Augustin-Leon Guillaume's Goums in a Modern War". Weider History Group. Archived from the original on 2007-09-30. It praises the fighting ability in difficult terrain and "Unfortunately for the Goumiers, their military success did not prevent their fearsome reputation from taking its toll as exceptional numbers of Moroccans were executed—many without trial—for allegedly murdering, raping, and pillaging their way across the Italian countryside."
• (in French) Comments about the mass rape in Ciociaria, with video from Two Women (the rape by the goumiers)
• De Luna, Giovanni. "La ciociara e le altre" [La Ciociara and the others] (in Italian). Archived from the original on 2009-01-13.
• Frezza, Daria. "Cassino 1943–44: La memoria" (PDF) (in Italian).
• Holland, James (2008). Italy's Sorrow – A year of war, 1944–45. London: Harper Press. ISBN 978-0-00-717645-8.
• "I marocchini di Juin "riscattano" l'onore della Francia" [Juin's Moroccans "redeem" the honour of Free France]. Dal Volturno a Cassino (in Italian).
• Johnston, Bruce (11 May 1997). "Italian women win cash for wartime rapes". International News Electronic Telegraph. Archived from the original on 28 December 2007.
• "Le Marocchinate" (in Italian). Istituto tecnico Luca Pacioli Crema. Archived from the original on 2006-05-15.
• No War. "Lo stupro di massa degli alleati" [The mass rape of the Allies] (in Italian). Archived from the original on 2011-07-09.
• Peterson, Allan (1998). "Pizza Man's Atrocity Hunt". San Diego Reader. (Anecdotal allegations of war crimes committed by Goumiers in Italy)
• "Senate of the Italian Republic: project of law for the victims of war rapes" (PDF) (in Italian). July 25, 1996.
• Weisbord, Robert G.; Honhart, Michael W (Winter 2002). "A Question of Race: Pope Pius XII and the "Coloured Troops" in Italy". The Historian. 65 (2): 403–417. doi:10.1111/1540-6563.00026.

External links

• Association National Victims of the Goumiers
• La verità nascosta delle “marocchinate”, saccheggi e stupri delle truppe francesi in mezza Italia, La Stampa
• Two Women (La Ciociara) at the Internet Movie Database.