Yekatit 12 Monument

Monument to the 30,000 Ethiopians killed by Italian forces in February 1937

An obelisk and memorial in the Sheger Park area mark the site where Italian forces carried out one of the largest massacres in African history, killing an estimated 30,000 Ethiopians in February 1937. The monument, inaugurated in 1955, is a sober reminder of the Italian occupation period and the violence that accompanied it.

The monument is freely accessible at all times and is increasingly surrounded by the new park infrastructure along the river. It is a significant historical site that most international visitors know nothing about, and understanding the Yekatit 12 massacre is essential context for making sense of Ethiopian attitudes toward Italy and the West.

things to do sight
A story
On 19 February 1937 (Yekatit 12 in the Ethiopian calendar), Italian Marshal Rodolfo Graziani ordered the massacre of Ethiopians in Addis Ababa as reprisal for an assassination attempt. An estimated 30,000 people were killed over three days. The massacre is rarely discussed in Western histories of the Second World War, despite being one of the largest single atrocities of the era.