home Treatment and prevention The main rapists of the end of the Second World War were Fyodor Shchepetov. Moroccan Corps of the French Army in World War II: massacres and rapes

The main rapists of the end of the Second World War were Fyodor Shchepetov. Moroccan Corps of the French Army in World War II: massacres and rapes

Since the 1990s in some domestic media, publications began to appear about the “atrocities” that were allegedly committed soviet soldiers in Germany after the Red Army entered its territory during the Great Patriotic War. Of course, any war is not free from cruelty, and the soldiers of all the armies of the world are far from angels. But yet another anti-Soviet (and anti-Russian) campaign was inflated not for the sake of restoring historical justice, but with the aim of supporting the well-known propaganda myth that Soviet Union was no better Hitler's Germany and is guilty of numerous war crimes. At the same time, the same liberal press, which “exposes” the Red Army soldiers who entered the land of the defeated aggressor country, prefers to remain bashfully silent about the atrocities of the troops of the Western allies. Meanwhile, it was the Allied troops that “distinguished themselves” during the Second World War by looting, reprisals against the German civilian population, and mass rape. No wonder. Unlike the Red Army, where the moral and psychological training of fighters and political training were very advanced high level, in Western armies (British Commonwealth, USA, France and others) it was practically absent. In addition, there was another very important factor.

The armies of the Western Allies included numerous formations of colonial troops, staffed by immigrants from the Asian and African colonies of Great Britain and France. The rank and file of these units were recruited from Africans and Asians, people of a completely different culture, with a different mentality. They had completely different, their own ideas about war, about victory, about the vanquished, and their own point of view on how to behave with the vanquished. All this was formed within the framework of African and Asian cultures for centuries, if not millennia.

The notoriety of the “main rapists” of the Second World War among the troops of the Western Allies was assigned to the French colonial troops, recruited from natives of North and West Africa. As is known, back in the 19th century, France began to form the first units, and then larger formations, staffed by residents of the territories of modern Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco, Senegal, Mali, and Mauritania. "Senegalese shooters", spagi, zouaves, goumiers - that's all of them. Children of the sands of the Sahara, the Atlas mountains and the savannahs of the Sahel took part in many of France's wars, including two world wars.

“War with women” (“guerra al femminile”) - this is what many modern Italian sources call the entry of Moroccan units into Italy. By the time the Allies deployed fighting on Italian soil, Italy has practically withdrawn from the war. Soon, Mussolini's regime fell, and resistance to the Allies continued to be provided mainly by German units located on Italian territory. In addition to the Anglo-American troops, units of the French army, staffed by Africans, also entered Italy. They were the ones who caused the greatest horror. But not against the enemy, but against the local civilian population. This was the second coming of natives of the distant Maghreb to Italian soil - after the medieval landings of “Barbarian” pirates on the Mediterranean coast of Italy and France, when entire villages were empty, and their inhabitants were taken in thousands to the slave markets of the Maghreb and Turkey.

The French Expeditionary Force, which entered the territory of Italy, included regiments of Moroccan Gumers. Previously, they fought in North Africa - against Italian and German troops in Libya, and then were transferred to Europe. Units of the Moroccan Gumiers were at the operational disposal of the command of the American 1st Infantry Division. Here we should say a little about who the Moroccan Gumiers are and why the French command needed them.

In 1908, when French troops colonized Morocco, the commander of the expeditionary army, Brigadier General Albert Amad, proposed hiring military service people from the Berber tribes of the Atlas Mountains. In 1911 they were given official status military units French army. At first, the Gumer units were staffed according to the principle familiar to colonial troops - Frenchmen, most often transferred from Algerian units, were appointed officers, and Moroccans occupied soldier and sergeant positions. France most actively used the Gumiers in the war to establish a protectorate over Morocco. Over 22 thousand Moroccans participated on the side of France in the colonization of their homeland, 12 thousand of them died in battle. However, there have always been many people willing to enroll in French military service in Morocco. For young men from poor peasant families, this was a good chance to receive “full board” in the form of a good salary, food, and uniform by Moroccan standards.

In November 1943, Gumer units were sent to mainland Italy. Using Moroccan units, the Allied command was guided by several considerations. Firstly, in this way, the losses of the European units themselves were reduced by attracting Africans. Secondly, the Moroccan regiments were recruited mainly from among the inhabitants of the Atlas Mountains, who were better suited for fighting in mountainous conditions. Thirdly, the cruelty of the Moroccans was also a kind of psychological: the glory of the “exploits” of the Gumiers went far ahead of them.

Among the Allied forces, the Gumiers, perhaps, held the palm in the number of crimes against civilians on Italian territory. This was also not surprising. The mentality of African warriors - people of a different culture and a different faith - played a very important role. People from the Maghreb found themselves in a position where they were a force against an unarmed and defenseless local population. A large number of white women for whom no one could stand up, and yet many Gumiers, apart from prostitutes, had no women at all in their lives - the majority entered military service as single men. In addition, in the Gumer regiments, discipline was traditionally at a much lower level than in other units and formations of the allied armies. The junior command staff, recruited from Moroccans, themselves had exactly the same mentality as ordinary soldiers, and the few French officers could not fully control the situation, as they were afraid of their own subordinates. And, needless to say, many of them turned a blind eye to the soldiers’ atrocities, believing that this was what the vanquished had to do.

The Allied campaign to capture Monte Cassino in Central Italy, which took place in May 1944, became widely known. Italian historians claim that the capture of Monte Cassino was accompanied by many crimes against civilians. Many soldiers of the allied forces performed them, but it was the Moroccan gumiers who “distinguished themselves” especially. Historians claim that the Gumers raped all women and girls aged 11 to 80 in local villages and settlements. The Gumiers did not disdain even very old women; they often raped very young girls, as well as boys and male teenagers. Approximately 800 Italian men who tried to protect their female relatives from rape were brutally murdered by Moroccan Gumiers. Mass rapes caused real epidemics of venereal diseases, since native soldiers often suffered from them themselves, having become infected at one time from prostitutes.

Of course, the rapists themselves are to blame for atrocities against civilians. History has not preserved the names of most of them, and almost all of them are no longer alive in our time. But responsibility for the behavior of the Gumiers cannot be removed from the allied command, first of all, from the leadership of Fighting France. It was the French command that decided to use African units on European soil, being well aware of how Africans from the colonies treated Europeans. For the Gumiers and other similar units, the war in Europe was someone else’s war; it was seen only as a way to earn money, as well as to rob and rape the local population with impunity. The French command knew this very well. The behavior of the Gumiers could not be justified by any revenge on the vanquished - unlike the Nazis, who committed atrocities on Soviet soil, killing and raping Soviet people, the Italians did not terrorize Morocco and Moroccans, did not kill the families of the Gumiers and had nothing to do with Morocco at all.

Marshal of France Alphonse Juin (1888-1967). The name of this man, a veteran of the First and Second World Wars, is showered not only with honors, but also with curses. It is he who is called one of the main people responsible for the crimes of the colonial troops in Italy. Marshal Juin is credited with famous words addressed to his subordinates:

“Soldiers! You are not fighting for the freedom of your land. This time I tell you: if you win the battle, you will have the best houses, women and wine in the world. But not a single German should be left alive. I say this and I will keep my promise. Fifty hours after victory you will be absolutely free in your actions. No one will punish you later, no matter what you do.”

In fact, with these words, Alphonse Juin authorized violence and blessed the Moroccan Gumers to commit numerous crimes against civilians. But, unlike the illiterate inhabitants of distant African mountains and deserts, Alphonse Juin was a European, sort of a cultured person, with higher education, a representative of the elite of French society. And the fact that he not only covered up violence (this could be understood - reputation and all that), but openly called for it even before it began, indicates that the French generals were not far from their opponents - Hitler's executioners.

Monte Cassino was given over to the Moroccan Gumiers for plunder for three days. What was happening in the surrounding area is difficult to describe in words. The famous novel by the world famous Italian writer Alberto Moravia “Ciochara” is dedicated, among other things, to the terrible events of the Italian Allied campaign. It is now impossible to count how many human tragedies were associated with the actions of the Gumiers.

True, we must pay tribute to the Allied command, sometimes punishments still followed for crimes committed by the Gumiers. Some French generals and officers retained their human qualities and dignity and tried with all their might to put an end to the lawlessness committed by the soldiers of the African troops. Thus, 160 criminal cases were opened regarding crimes against the local population, involving 360 military personnel, mainly from the Moroccan Gumer regiments. There were even several death sentences handed down. But this is a drop in the sea of blood and tears caused by Moroccan soldiers.

In 2011, the president of the National Association of Victims of Marocchinate (that is what the Italians call those events) Emiliano Ciotti shed light on the scale of the tragedy of the war years. Only registered cases of violence, according to him, were about 20 thousand. However, according to modern estimates, at least 60 thousand Italian women were raped. In the vast majority of cases, rapes were of a group nature, with 2-3-4 people taking part in them, but there were also rapes of women by 100 and even 300 soldiers. Murders of rape victims were not uncommon. For example, on May 27, 1944, a 17-year-old girl was raped by several Gumiers in Valekors, after which she was shot. There were a lot of such cases.

Pope Pius XII, aware of the horrors taking place, personally addressed General Charles de Gaulle, but the leader of Fighting France did not honor the pontiff with his response. The American command offered the French generals their own method of combating rape - to have regimental prostitutes, but this proposal was not accepted. When the war was over, the French command hastily withdrew the Moroccan regiments from Italy, obviously fearing wide publicity and trying to hide traces of most of the crimes committed.

On August 1, 1947, two years after the end of World War II, Italy sent an official note of protest to the French government. However, the French leadership did not take serious measures to punish the perpetrators and limited themselves to standard phrases. There was no proper reaction to repeated appeals from Italy in 1951 and 1993. Although the crimes were committed directly by Gumiers - immigrants from Morocco, France still bears responsibility for them. It was the French marshals and generals, including not only Alphonse Juin, who in fairness should have answered for this in court, but also Charles de Gaulle, who let the genie out of the bottle.

June 23rd, 2017 , 08:38 pm

Against the backdrop of stories about Europe raped by soldiers of the Red Army, it is very important to remember those who during the Second World War actually left behind a raped country. We are talking about soldiers of the Moroccan corps who fought on the side of France in Africa and Italy.

When we're talking about about the horrors and atrocities of the Second World War, as a rule, the acts of the Nazis are meant. Torture of prisoners, concentration camps, genocide, extermination of civilians - the list of Nazi atrocities is inexhaustible.

However, one of the most terrible pages in the history of World War II was written in it by units of the Allied troops who liberated Europe from the Nazis. The French, and in fact the Moroccan expeditionary force received the title of the main scumbags of this war.

Moroccans in the Allied ranks

Several regiments of Moroccan Gumières fought as part of the French Expeditionary Force. Berbers, representatives of the native tribes of Morocco, were recruited into these units. The French army used Goumieres in Libya during World War II, where they fought Italian forces in 1940. Moroccan Gumiers also took part in the battles in Tunisia, which took place in 1942-1943.

In 1943, Allied troops landed in Sicily. Moroccan gumiers were placed at the disposal of the 1st American Infantry Division by order of the allied command. Some of them took part in the battles for the liberation of the island of Corsica from the Nazis. By November 1943, Moroccan soldiers were redeployed to the Italian mainland, where in May 1944 they crossed the Avrounque Mountains. Subsequently, regiments of Moroccan Gumiers took part in the liberation of France, and at the end of March 1945 they were the first to break into Germany from the Siegfried Line.

Why did the Moroccans go to fight in Europe?

The Gumiers rarely went into battle for reasons of patriotism - Morocco was under the protectorate of France, but they did not consider it their homeland. The main reason the prospect was decent by the standards of the country wages, increasing military prestige, showing loyalty to the heads of their clans who sent soldiers to fight.

The Gumer regiments were often recruited from the poorest inhabitants of the Maghreb, the mountaineers. Most of them were illiterate. French officers had to play the role of wise advisers with them, replacing the authority of the tribal leaders.

How the Moroccan Gumiers fought

At least 22,000 Moroccan nationals took part in the battles of World War II. The permanent strength of the Moroccan regiments reached 12,000 people, with 1,625 soldiers killed in action and 7,500 wounded.

According to some historians, Moroccan warriors performed well in mountain battles, finding themselves in familiar surroundings. The homeland of the Berber tribes is the Moroccan Atlas Mountains, so the Gumiers tolerated transitions to the highlands well.

Other researchers are categorical: the Moroccans were average warriors, but they managed to surpass even the Nazis in the brutal killing of prisoners. The Gumiers could not and did not want to give up the ancient practice of cutting off the ears and noses of the corpses of enemies. But the main horror of the populated areas that Moroccan soldiers entered was the mass rape of civilians.

Liberators became rapists

The first news about the rape of Italian women by Moroccan soldiers was recorded on December 11, 1943, the day the Humiers landed in Italy. It was about four soldiers. French officers were unable to control the actions of the Gumiers. Historians note that "these were the first echoes of the behavior that would later be long associated with the Moroccans."

Already in March 1944, during de Gaulle’s first visit to the Italian front, local residents turned to him with an urgent request to return the Gumiers to Morocco. De Gaulle promised to involve them only as carabinieri to protect public order.

May 17, 1944 American soldiers in one of the villages the desperate screams of raped women were heard. According to their testimony, the Gumiers repeated what the Italians did in Africa. However, the allies were really shocked: the British report speaks of rapes by Gumiers right on the streets of women, little girls, teenagers of both sexes, as well as prisoners in prisons.

Moroccan horror at Monte Cassino

One of the most terrible deeds of the Moroccan Gumers in Europe is the story of the liberation of Monte Cassino from the Nazis. The Allies managed to capture this ancient abbey of central Italy on May 14, 1944. After their final victory at Cassino, the command announced “fifty hours of freedom” - the south of Italy was given over to the Moroccans for three days.

Historians testify that after the battle, Moroccan Gumiers committed brutal pogroms in the surrounding villages. All the girls and women were raped, and even the teenage boys were not saved. Reports from the German 71st Division record 600 rapes of women in small town Spinho in just three days.

More than 800 men were killed while trying to save their relatives, friends or neighbors. The pastor of the town of Esperia tried in vain to protect three women from the violence of Moroccan soldiers - the Gumiers tied the priest up and raped him all night, after which he soon died. The Moroccans also plundered and carried away everything that had any value.

Moroccans chose the most for gang rapes beautiful girls. Queues of gumiers lined up at each of them, wanting to have fun, while other soldiers held the unfortunate ones back. Thus, two young sisters, 18 and 15 years old, were raped by more than 200 gumiers each. Younger sister died from injuries and ruptures, the eldest went crazy and was kept in prison for 53 years until her death psychiatric hospital.

War on women

In the historical literature about the Apennine Peninsula, the time from the end of 1943 to May 1945 is called guerra al femminile - “the war on women.” During this period, French military courts initiated 160 criminal proceedings against 360 individuals. Death sentences and heavy punishments were imposed. In addition, many rapists who were taken by surprise were shot at the scene of the crime.

In Sicily, the Gumiers raped everyone they could capture. Partisans in some regions of Italy stopped fighting the Germans and began saving the surrounding villages from the Moroccans. The huge number of forced abortions and infections with sexually transmitted diseases had terrible consequences for many small villages and hamlets in the regions of Lazio and Tuscany.

The Italian writer Alberto Moravia wrote his most famous novel, Ciociara, in 1957, based on what he saw in 1943, when he and his wife were hiding in Ciociara (a locality in the Lazio region). Based on the novel, the film “Chochara” (in English box office – “Two Women”) was shot in 1960 with Sophia Loren in leading role. The heroine and her young daughter, on the way to liberated Rome, stop to rest in the church of a small town. There they are attacked by several Moroccan Gumiers, who rape both of them.

Victim Testimonies

On April 7, 1952, testimonies from numerous victims were heard in the lower house of the Italian Parliament. Thus, the mother of 17-year-old Malinari Vella spoke about the events of May 27, 1944 in Valecorse: “We were walking along Monte Lupino Street and saw Moroccans. The soldiers were clearly attracted to young Malinari. We begged not to touch us, but they didn’t listen to anything. Two of them held me, the rest raped Malinari in turns. When the last one finished, one of the soldiers took out a pistol and shot my daughter.”

Elisabetta Rossi, 55, from the Farneta area, recalled: “I tried to protect my daughters, aged 18 and 17, but I was stabbed in the stomach. Bleeding, I watched as they were raped. A five-year-old boy, not understanding what was happening, rushed towards us. They fired several bullets into his stomach and threw him into a ravine. The next day the child died.”

Morocchinate

The atrocities that the Moroccan Gumiers committed in Italy for several months were given the name marocchinate by Italian historians, a derivative of the name of the home country of the rapists.

On October 15, 2011, the President of the National Association of Victims of Marocchinate, Emiliano Ciotti, assessed the scale of the incident: “From the numerous documents collected today, it is known that there have been at least 20,000 registered cases of violence. This number still does not reflect the truth - medical reports from those years report that two thirds of women raped, out of shame or modesty, chose not to report anything to the authorities. Taking a comprehensive assessment, we can confidently say that at least 60,000 women have been raped. On average, North African soldiers raped them in groups of two or three, but we also have testimonies from women raped by 100, 200 and even 300 soldiers,” Ciotti noted.

Consequences

After the end of World War II, Moroccan gumiers were urgently returned to Morocco by the French authorities. On August 1, 1947, the Italian authorities sent an official protest to the French government. The answer was formal replies. The problem was raised again by the Italian leadership in 1951 and 1993. The question still remains open.

They were so-so warriors, but in sadism they outdid even the Nazis, cutting off body parts from defeated enemies - as proof of their own valor

When people talk about inhumanity during World War II, they usually mean the atrocities of the Nazis. And it is not at all customary in society to raise the topic of war crimes by the allied forces, although they sometimes committed no less atrocities.

Barbarians in the service of the masters

The Berber mercenaries who served in the ranks of the French army were particularly cruel. It included several regiments that were composed of Moroccan natives. Units consisting of gumiers have previously been used in armed conflicts. The French fielded them in the Libyan campaign against the Italians, then in Tunisia against the Germans. The Gumiers proved themselves to be good scouts, and in the highlands they had no equal at all - the mountains were their native element.

In 1943, the famous landing of allied troops on Sicily took place, and the Americans received at their disposal several units of Moroccan fighters who had already fought for Corsica. From November 1943, African warriors wearing turbans and striped djellabas (hooded robe) were deployed to the mainland.

The Moroccans fought desperately. But one should not think that the Gumiers were characterized by patriotism, or that they were adherents of any ideology. No. Rather, the role was played by following one’s own traditions, loyalty to the family and its elders, who sent the man to gain military honor in battle. Well, and mercenary payments, of course. It was impossible to earn that kind of money in my native area. And if we also assume war booty!.. In general, war is the work of men, and the Gumiers sought to justify this.

The savage is out of control

But the courage and high-quality military training of the Gumiers is the statement of only one part of the historians and witnesses of that war. The other part says that it would be better if these savages did not exist in the spaces of Europe at all. The Gumiers cut off the ears and noses of defeated enemies as proof of their valor. No admonitions or punishments from the French officers had any effect. The warriors grinned angrily in response and did things their own way. Moroccans especially became known for raping the vanquished.

The first case recorded in documents was an appeal from the population to French officers on the very first day after the landing of allied troops in Italy. Then four soldiers “distinguished themselves.”

And although punishment followed, it did not affect the future actions of the Moroccan warriors. They raped and abused as before, openly ignoring the orders of the French authorities. Within a couple of months, when the general de Gaulle arrived in the Lazio region with an inspection, the residents practically begged him to return the Gumiers to their homeland. De Gaulle cynically promised to involve the Gumiers only to ensure street order.

License to die

The behavior of the Americans, under whose wing the units of Moroccan thugs were given, looks strange. Knowing their predilection for atrocities, the American command, after the Allied victory over the Germans in the area of the ancient abbey of Monte Cassino, gave the southern part of Italy to the savages for three days to plunder.

The surrounding area of the abbey was covered in blood. All the villages around were destroyed. Women, girls, boys, and teenagers were brutally raped and often killed after the abuse. In the written reports of the town of Spigno alone, over six hundred rapes were recorded in three days. And how many cases were not taken into account! Everyone who tried to protect their women was killed. A pastor from the town church of Esperia, who tried to save three women, was captured and raped until the morning. Soon the pastor died.

Don't be born beautiful

The most beautiful girls are the least fortunate. Berbers loved beauty. So much so that 200 people lined up to see the beauties. In the local psychiatric hospital of the same Spigno, there was a woman who went crazy when she, eighteen, and her fifteen-year-old sister were raped by Moroccans. The younger sister died from lacerations and beatings, and the eldest lived in this horror for another 53 years.

From December 1943 to May 1945, French courts opened 160 cases that resulted in severe punishments, including the death penalty, being imposed on the rapists. They were also shot at the crime scene. But these measures did not stop the wild savages. It got to the point that in several areas the Italian partisans switched from the Germans to saving the surrounding villages from the Gumiers.

And the Germans burned children in barns, and we buy cars from them...

The atrocities at the TS post are certainly bad, but they are far from Khatyn.
Let me remind you to compare the young people, otherwise they will think that raped Italian women were the worst thing that happened then and believe in “they should drink Bavarian beer” from our “thinking” freaks:

This happened on March 22, 1943. The brutal fascists burst into the village of Khatyn and surrounded it. The villagers did not know anything that in the morning, 6 km from Khatyn, a fascist convoy was fired upon by partisans and was killed as a result of the attack. German officer. But the Nazis have already sentenced innocent people to death. The entire population of Khatyn, young and old - old people, women, children - were kicked out of their homes and driven into a collective farm barn. The butts of machine guns were used to lift the sick and old people out of bed; they did not spare women with small and infant children. The families of Joseph and Anna Baranovsky with 9 children, Alexander and Alexandra Novitsky with 7 children were brought here; there were the same number of children in the family of Kazimir and Elena Iotko, the youngest was only one year old. Vera Yaskevich and her seven-week-old son Tolik were driven into the barn. Lenochka Yaskevich first hid in the yard, and then decided to take safe refuge in the forest. The Nazis' bullets could not catch up with the running girl. Then one of the fascists rushed after her, caught up with her, and shot her in front of her father, distraught with grief. Together with the residents of Khatyn, a resident of the village of Yurkovichi, Anton Kunkevich, and a resident of the village of Kameno, Kristina Slonskaya, who happened to be in the village of Khatyn at that time, were driven into the barn.
Not a single adult could go unnoticed. Only three children - Volodya Yaskevich, his sister Sonya Yaskevich and Sasha Zhelobkovich - managed to escape from the Nazis. When the entire population of the village was in the barn, the Nazis locked the doors of the barn, lined it with straw, doused it with gasoline and set it on fire. The wooden barn instantly caught fire. Children were suffocating and crying in the smoke. The adults tried to save the children. Under the pressure of dozens of human bodies, the doors could not stand it and collapsed. In burning clothes, gripped by horror, people rushed to run, but those who escaped from the flames were shot in cold blood by the Nazis from machine guns and machine guns. 149 people died, including 75 children under 16 years of age. The village was plundered and burned to the ground.

Two girls from the Klimovich and Fedorovich families - Maria Fedorovich and Yulia Klimovich - miraculously managed to get out of the burning barn and crawl to the forest. Burnt and barely alive, they were picked up by residents of the village of Khvorosteni, Kamensky village council. But this village was soon burned by the Nazis and both girls died.

Only two of the children in the barn survived - seven-year-old Viktor Zhelobkovich and twelve-year-old Anton Baranovsky. When terrified people were running out of the burning barn in burning clothes, Anna Zhelobkovich ran out along with other village residents. She held her seven-year-old son Vitya tightly by the hand. The mortally wounded woman, falling, covered her son with herself. The child, wounded in the arm, lay under the corpse of his mother until the Nazis left the village. Anton Baranovsky was wounded in the leg by an explosive bullet. The Nazis took him for dead.
The burnt and wounded children were picked up and came out by residents of neighboring villages. After the war, children were raised in orphanage g.p. Pleshchenitsy.

The only adult witness to the Khatyn tragedy, 56-year-old village blacksmith Joseph Kaminsky, burned and wounded, regained consciousness late at night, when the Nazis were no longer in the village. He had to endure another severe blow: among the corpses of his fellow villagers, he found his wounded son. The boy was fatally wounded in the stomach and received severe burns. He died in his father's arms.
This tragic moment in the life of Joseph Kaminsky formed the basis for the creation of the only sculpture of the Khatyn memorial complex - “The Unconquered Man”.

Why were they sent to fight in Europe?

The Gumiers rarely went into battle for reasons of patriotism - Morocco was under the protectorate of France, but they did not consider it their homeland. The main reason was the prospect of decent wages by the standards of the country, increased military prestige, and the manifestation of loyalty to the heads of their clans, who sent soldiers to fight.

How they fought

Rapists

On May 17, 1944, American soldiers in one of the villages heard the desperate screams of raped women. According to their testimony, the Gumiers repeated what the Italians did in Africa. However, the allies were really shocked: the British report speaks of rapes by Gumiers right on the streets of women, little girls, teenagers of both sexes, as well as prisoners in prisons.

Horror at Monte Cassino

Historians testify that after the battle, Moroccan Gumiers committed brutal pogroms in the surrounding villages. All the girls and women were raped, and even the teenage boys were not saved. Records from the German 71st Division record 600 rapes of women in the small town of Spigno in just three days.

The Moroccans chose the most beautiful girls for gang rape. Queues of gumiers lined up at each of them, wanting to have fun, while other soldiers held the unfortunate ones back. Thus, two young sisters, 18 and 15 years old, were raped by more than 200 gumiers each. The younger sister died from injuries and ruptures, the eldest went crazy and was kept in a psychiatric hospital for 53 years until her death.

The Italian writer Alberto Moravia wrote his most famous novel, Ciociara, in 1957, based on what he saw in 1943, when he and his wife were hiding in Ciociara (a locality in the Lazio region). Based on the novel, the film “Chochara” (in English release – “Two Women”) was shot in 1960 with Sophia Loren in the title role. The heroine and her young daughter, on the way to liberated Rome, stop to rest in the church of a small town. There they are attacked by several Moroccan Gumiers, who rape both of them.

Evidence

Morocchinate