Colonel Belay Haileab

Compiled by Resoum Kidane

Who was the Black Lion resistance group commander during the second Italo Abyssinian war and whose monument still stands at Holeta Genet Military Academy.

The Black Lion patriots moved at night to Bonaya. Reconnaissance discovered that the Italians were sleeping. The Black Lion commander, Colonel Belay Haile Ab, ordered his force to break into the aeroplanes and capture the enemy alive. The Italians began to fire and there was hand-to-hand combat. Eleven Italian officers were killed on the spot and the three aeroplanes were burnt down. Alberto Agostino was afterwards found in a maize field, wounded with spears by the villagers. On the Black Lion side only two men were wounded and none was killed. Padre Borello reported by letter to Marshal Graziani in Addis Abeba what had happened and even sent a sketch map of the Black Lion camp.
The Italians delayed the occupation of Nekemte for three months in order to calm down the situation. When they began to arrive in large numbers, 600 Italian soldiers also arrived by air to Bonaya in September 1936. [Tesema Ta'a in 13th Int. Conf. of Ethiopian Studies, vol I 1997 p 263-276] source  Guerra Etiopica


[Ghirmay Yeibio,2013] in his article a-crumbling-nation-and-a-tragedy also mentioned that Colonel Belay Haileab and his group conducted military campaigns in Western Ethiopia, in the vicinity of Lekemte, Wollega. Colonel Belay Haileab was later captured and killed by Italians.

መን እሞ ይንገረሎም…!!!

ሕሉፍ ዛንታን ዘይእመን ውዕሎን ሌተና ኮሎኔል በላይ ሓይልኣብ እንታይ ወሓጦ?

መቸስ ጉዕዞ ታሪኽ እዚ ዝሓለፈ 100 ዓመታት፡ ኤርትራዊ እንታይ ዘይገበረ፡ ስምርትን ስልጥንትን ኤርትራ ንምቛም ምስ መን ዘይመከተ!

ብ1869 ቀሺ ጁሴፔ ሳፔቶ፡ መሬት ደንካልያ ምስ ረገጸ፡ ህዝቢ ገማግም ዞባ ደቡባዊ ቀይሕ ባሕሪ ኣማኒ ምስልምና ምዃኑ ምስ ኣረጋገጸ፡ ሳፔቶ! ኣማኒ ምስልምና ኮይኑ’ዩ ምስ ሰበስልጣን ደርደር ረሓይታ ሰላሕታዊ ርክቡ ዝጀመረ። እዚ ይኹን እምበር እቲ ተቐባሊ ጋሻ ዝኾነ ህዝቢ ዓፈር፡ ኩነታት እቲ ሰራም ቀሺ ከስተብህል ድሕሪ ምጅማሩ፡ ኣሻቡ’ዩ ጠላይን ክሃድን ዝጀመረ።

ብወርሒ ግንቦት 1876 ካኣ 25 ጠላይን ኣብ በይሉል ቀተለ። እዚ ሓበሬታ እዚ ኻኣ፡ ናብ ሰበስልጣን ጣልያን በጽሐ እሞ፡ ምድሪ ኤርትራ ብቐሊሉ ዘይርገጽ ኣሿኽ ምዃኑ ተገረጋገጸ። በዚ ኢሉ በቲ ግና ጣልያን ቀስ ብቐስን ብፍሑኽታን መላእ ኤርትራ ተቐጻጸረ እሞ፡ ልሙጽ ግዝኣቱ ንምርግጋጽ ነቶም ህዝቢ ኤርትራ ኵውድቡን ከንቅሑን ይኽእሉ እዮም እተባህሉ ማእለያ ዘይብሎም ዓበይቲ ዓዲ፡ መራሕቲ ሃይማኖት፡ ኣነባበርቲ ዓድን ዝኣመሰሉ ሓርበኛታት ሓደ ድሕሪ ሓደ ብምልቃም ገሊኦም ናብ ደሴት ናኹራ ንሕልፈት ክሕየሩ እንከሎዉ፡ ገለ እምቢታ ዘርኣዩ እውን፡ ኣብ መንገዲ ብጥይት ተቐቲሎምን ኣብ ኣጉናድ ተሰቒሎም ድማ ንሕልፈት ሓሊፎምን እዮም።

እዚ ተርእዮ እዚ፡ ኤርትራውያን መንእሰያት 20ታትን 30ታትን ኣብ ውሽጢ መሬት ኤርትራ ብምዃን ምስ ጠላይን መኪትቶም ናጽነቶም ክዓትሩ ዝካኣል ከም ዘይኮነ ዘዘኻኸረ ደወል ነበረ። በብጉጅለን ብውልቅን ድማ መረብ ተሳጊሮም መኸትኦም ክቕጽሉ ተራእዩ።

ሓደ ካብዚኦም እቲ ድሕሪ ስዕረት ጣልያን ማዕርግ ሌተና ኮሎኔል እተሸለመ ካብ ኣቡኡ ሓይልኣብ መሸሽን ወላዲቱ ሓዳስ ንግሳን ኣብ ኣፈልባ-ዞባ ደቡብ እተወልደ በላይ ሓይልኣብ (Afelba) ነበረ።

ሌተና ኮሎኔል በላይ ሓይልኣብ፡ ገና መንእሰይ ወዲ 21 ዓመታት እንከሎ፡ ከም ኣዛዚ ናይቲ ብጥቁር ኣምበሳ (ጸሊም ኣንበሳ) ዝፍለጥ ኣብ “ሆለታ ገነት ኣካዳሚ” Holeta Genet Military Academy ዝሰልጠነ ኣሃዱ ብምዃን ብዙሕ ዕዮታት ዝዓየየ መንእሰይ ነበረ።
ኣብ 1936 ጣልያን መላእ ኢትዮጵያን ሶማልያን ተቖጻጺሩ ግዝኣት ኢጣልያዊት ምብራቕ ኣፍሪቃ ምስ ኣወጀ ድማ፡ በላይ ከም ኣዛዚ ናይቲ ብጥቁር ኣምበሳ ዝጽዋዕ ፍሉይ ኣሃዱ ብምዃንን ናብ ወለጋ “ለቀምቴ” ናብ ዝነበረ መዕርፎ ነፈርቲ ጣልያን ብለይቲ ብምእታው 3 ነፈርቲ ውግእ መግዛእቲ ጣልያን ኣቃጸለ።

እቲ ወረ እቲ ብኡን ብኡን ናብ ሓለፍቲ ጠላይን በጽሐ እሞ፡ በላይ ንምህዳን ድማ ላዕልን ታሕን ኮነ። እዚ ይኹን እምበር፡ እቲ ብቆራጽነቱን ትብዓቱን ዝልለ ዝነበረ በላይ ሓይልኣብ፡ ኣብቲ ብዓርቢ19 ለካቲት 1937 ብኤርትራውያን መንእሰያት ኣብራሃ ደቦጭ ከምኡ’ውን መጎስ ኣስጎዶም ኣብ ከተማ ኣዲስ ኣበባ እተኻየደ ፍንጀራ ቦምብ እውን ተሳተፈ እሞ፡ ስእሉ ድማ ተረኽበ። ድሕሪ ነዊሕ ድልያ ድማ፡ በላይ ኣብ ትሕቲ ቁጽጽር ሓይልታት ጣልያን ኣተወ።

ተታሒዙ ናብ ቤት ጽሕፈት ኣመሓዳሪ ኢጣልያዊት ምብራቕ ኣፍሪቃ (ኤርትራ፡ ኢትዮጵያን ሶማልያን) ጀነራል ሮዶልፎ ግራስያኒ ድማ ቀረበን እሞ፡ እቲ ጀነራል ካኣ፡ ኣብ ነፋሪት ናብ ሰማያት ወለጋ በነያ ክበርር እሞ፡ ካብታ ነፋሪት ድማ ካብ ሰማይ ተደፊኡ ናብ መሬት ተደርብዩ ክመውት ፈረዶ።
እቲ ኣሬሜናዊ ተግባራት ፋሺሽት ድማ ተተግበረ። መንእሰይ በላይ ኣብ መበል 24 ዓመት ዕድሚኡ እንከሎ ጥራሕ ካኣ በጃ ህዝቢ ሓለፈ።

ኤርትራዊ ሓርበኛ በላይ ሓይልኣብ (በዓል ኣፈልባ) ድማ ክቡር ሞት ሞተ።
ንጉስ ሃይለስላሴ ጣልያን ብእንግሊዝ ተሳዒሩ ካብ ስደት ናብ ሃገሮም ምስ ተመልሱ ድማ፡ ነቶም ኣንጻር መግዛእቲ ዝሓለፉ ኩሎም ኤርትራውያን እተፈላለየ ማዕርግ ክህቡ ወሰኑ እሞ፡ ንበላይ ድማ፡ ስለቲ ክቡር ኣበርክቱኡ ማዕርግ (ሌተና ኮሎኔል) ብምዕዳል ነቲ ሕጂ ብስም ጎደና ሰማእታት ዝጽዋዕ ኣብ ከባቢ (ሲነማ ሮማ) ዝርከብ ጎደና እውን፡ - ጎደና ሌተና ኮሎኔል በላይ ሓይልኣብ ሰመዩዎ። source Mewael Mehansho
egftSp1stes0oS nsofrMaarch dme2rd0l16 . ማናኢስራኤል ኣርኣያ ዘቤዓንደ
ፋሽሽቲ ጥሊያን ገለ ገሊኦም ጥዑም ገዛኢ ኢሎም ኢዮም ዝጽወዕዎ ፣አቲ ሓቁ ግን አዚን ካብዚ ዝገደድን ናይ ናኩራን መከራታት ግፍዒን ጭፍጨፋን ከምዘካየደ ፣ጽልዋ ሃይማኖቱ ገዲፉ ብዙሕ ስቃይ ን ጭካኔን ዝፈጸመ ካልኣይ ፋሺሽቲ ምሓዛ ናዚ ምካኑ ጥርጥር የልቦን ,ብኣሉላ ኣባ ነጋን ሰራዊቱን ኣብ ዶጎሊን ጉንደትን ጉራዕን አካ ተቀጥቂጡ አንተነበረ አኩል ግን ኣይነበረን ፣በርብሮ ጥራሕ ዓርኩ ፣ናይዚ ርጉም ፋሺሽቲ  comment to Mewael post

Some of the individuals who heroically defended Ethiopia and laid their precious life resisting Italian colonization, and are honored and revered in Ethiopian history as national heroes, are Eritreans.  Most prominent amongst them are:-

1. Zeray Deres (from Hamassien)- the lion of Rome, a young Eritrean who is lionized to this day as a brave Ethiopian patriot with unparalleled bravery and patriotism. When in Rome on June 14, 1938 saw to his shock the golden Lion of Judah, the symbol of the ancient monarchy of his ancestors erected as war booty in the heart of Rome, Zeray knelt down in front of the monument to pay homage.  When an Italian army officer attempted to prevent him from continuing his devotions, he drew his sword with rage and with tears of anger running down his face, screamed “Long live  Emperor Haile Selassie, Long live the Lion of Judah, down with Italy, down with the King of Italy and down with Mussolini!” and attacked the Italian Officer.  He killed and wounded numerous other officers before he was shot and wounded in the Piazza Esedra, and fell near the Statue of the Conquering Lion of the Tribe of Judah.11
2. Two young Eritreans Abrham Debotch (from Seraye), and Mogos Asgodom (from  Akeleguzay), made a daring assassination attempt and wounded the Fascist Italian Viceroy Marshall Rodolfo Graziani on 19  February 1937 in Addis Ababa by throwing 7 hand grenades and killed 3 Italian Officers and wounded 52 others including General Liotta, Commander of the Italian Air force who lost his right eye and a leg as a result of the attack.  The attack by Abrha Debotch and Mogos Asgodom in the heart of the invaders gave the patriots a moral boost and the retaliatory action taken by the Italians following the attack further widened the existing gap between the Ethiopian people and the Italian Occupiers.12
3. Colonel Belay Haileab, who was the Black Lion resistance group commander during the second Italo Abyssinian war and whose monument still stands at Holeta Genet Military Academy.  He and his group conducted military campaigns in Western Ethiopia, in the vicinity of Lekemte, Wollega.  Colonel Belay Haileab was later captured and killed by Italians.1

https://asmarino.com/articles/1621-qindependent-eritreaq-a-crumbling-nation-and-a-tragedy

https://digilander.libero.it/lacorsainfinita/guerra2/guerraefede.htm