Ethiopian Lictor Youth

Ethiopian Lictor Youth (Italian: Gioventù Etiopica del Littorio, abbreviated G.E.L.) was a fascist youth organization in Ethiopia. Founded in 1936, GEL was modelled after the Gioventù Italiana del Littorio (the youth wing of the National Fascist Party) and the Arab Lictor Youth in Libya.[1][2]

History

Soon after the Italian occupation of Ethiopia, thousands of school-children were organized in GEL. Through GEL a free lunch program for children was set up. GEL had its own uniforms.[3]

On May 24, 1937 a contingent of GEL paraded through Rome in connection with the twentieth anniversary of the Italian entry into the First World War. The GEL unit sang a specially composed song in honour of Il Duce, Benito Mussolini.[2] Later renamed 'Indigenous Lictor Youth', Gioventù Indigena del Littorio in 1940, after the introduction of racial segregation laws in July 1938, GEL was never incorporated into the Italian mother organization.[4] The organization was disbanded on orders from Rome after a brief existence.[5]

References
  1. http://www.centroginocchi.it/index.php?option=com_docman&task=doc_view&gid=14&Itemid=18%5B%5D
  2. Pankhurst, Richard. Education in Ethiopia during the Italian Fascist Occupation (1936-1941), in The International Journal of African Historical Studies, Vol. 5, No. 3 (1972), pp. 361- 396
  3. Zoli, Corrado. The Organization of Italy's East African Empire, in Foreign Affairs vol 16 (1937-1938).
  4. Mannucci, Stefano. La fotografia strumento dell’imperialismo fascista
  5. Diel, Louise, and Kenneth Kirkness. "Behold Our New Empire"--Mussolini. London: Hurst & Blackett, 1939. p. 37
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