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Haile Selassie About Germany's Support During Italian War
February 2, 2012 at 2:31am

Oral interview with Serge Groussard and Emperor Haile Selassie on 26/03/1959.

Written down after the interview. Transmitted by the French Embassy to the German Embassy.

Serge Groussard:

Has there ever been a country, that has provided Ethiopia effective assistance at that time?


Haile Selassie:
None. With one exception. We are now very much surprised. The only nation that has given us a concrete support, that has provided us with secret crews and parachute drops of arms and ammunition, and that has continued after the end of organized resistance, to the guerrillas of our plateau - a little support; this was- Germany.

We give you experience of something improbable, do we not?


Serge Groussard:

Yes, Your Majesty.


Haile Selassie:
However, it was so. While he made the company, a good face to Mussolini, Hitler did his utmost to destroy it. It is certain that the material which we received from Germany, was an extension of the fighting, and later supplyed the guerrillas, to the great detriment of the occupiers.


Serge Groussard:

What were the motives of Hitler?


Haile Selassie:
Back then, the German-Italian relations were not very favorable. Mussolini has proved it, as he had several divisions at the port in March 1938, contracted at the burner.


Serge Groussard:
Yes, but the same fascist divisions fought together with the tanks and planes of the Nazis against Spanish republicans.


Haile Selassie: It is proven that it secretly helped. Of course, it was not a big help in scale, as you can imagine.

And whatever they did, the Nazis and the Fascists had no other determined enemy than us. But still, in those dark years, only one wolf was to help us. Why should we remain silent on this strange fact?

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