Moroccan Mountain Corps of the French Expeditionary Force at Monte Cassino

France held out against Nazi Germany in World War II for just over one month. The collaborationist Vichy regime went over to the side of the Germans, but not everyone followed his example; the battle for the colonies began, during which the “Gumiers” - Moroccan soldiers - ended up on the side anti-Hitler coalition.

At the beginning of 1944, Allied forces in Italy reached the Gustav Line, a complex of German fortifications completely covering the entire width of the Apennine Peninsula.
In just a few months, the coalition forces lost half of their personnel, not to mention non-combat losses; air superiority could not change the situation much. For 4 months the allies were marking time, the morale of the soldiers was falling day by day...
Among the many motley units of the Allies, the expeditionary unit stood apart French corps, more than 2/3 of which consisted of local African units, immigrants from Morocco and Algeria.
Moroccan riflemen or Gumiers, like other colonial formations, gained fame as excellent hardy and competent fighters in the mountains. The units were formed primarily along tribal lines under the command of French officers. The uniform retained the key elements of the traditional costume - gumiers were instantly recognizable by their turbans and gray striped or brown "djellaba" (cloak with a hood). National sabers and daggers were also left in service; it was the curved Moroccan dagger with the letters GMM that became the symbol of the units of the Moroccan Gumiers.
The fighters performed well in the Rif War and Libya.

But no one could imagine how they would manifest themselves later...

French General Alphonse Juin, who had commanded the expeditionary force of “Fighting France” in North Africa since 1942, decided to motivate his soldiers and gave them a speech: “Soldiers! You are not fighting for the freedom of your land. This time I am telling you: if you win battle, then 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 the victory you will be absolutely free in your actions, no one will punish you later. no matter what you do!!!"
The African units, inspired by the call of the commander who had served with them since the formation of the units, went into battle shouting in honor of the Prophet...

On May 14, with faith in Allah, promised hours of “rest,” one way or another, the Moroccans were able to break through and ensure victory for the allies.

Already on May 15, soldiers of the French Expeditionary Force began to wander through the adjacent hills, robbing and plundering local villages.

According to some German and American reports, the French commanders were unable to control the Africans. And did you even want to?
The civilized, cultured French had no illusions about the morals and customs of their North African warriors. Not all inhabitants of northern Africa have the habits of animals, but those who were sent to Europe in 1943-44 are described even in their own literature as, for example, the Moroccan writer Tahar Ben Gellain did: “They were savages who recognized strength, loved to dominate."
The French knew their habits, principles and traditions very well. We can say that “cultural” weapons were deliberately used against the civilian population.

Back in March 1944, de Gaulle, in his first visit to the Italian front, first spoke about the return of the Gumiers to Morocco. However, they limited the matter to the fact that they tried to increase the number of prostitutes in the places where African troops were quartered, by the way, without success.
It is not difficult to imagine what began in the territory occupied by Africans. In the cities of Checcano, Supino, Sgorgola and their neighbors: as of June 2, there were 5,418 recorded rapes of women and children, 29 murders, 517 robberies. Many women and girls were raped repeatedly. Naturally, husbands and parents stood up for the women; often these were partisans. Men were killed with particular cruelty, tortured, often castrated and raped...

The violence began with the victory at Monte Cassino in Italy. and continued until the beginning of 1945, already on German territory, after which the Africans were returned to Morocco and Algeria.. But let’s dwell on Italy in detail...

Testimonies of female victims from the official transcript of testimony in the lower house of the Italian Parliament. Meeting of April 7, 1952:
“Malinari Vella, she was 17 years old at the time of the events. Her mother gives testimony about the events of May 27, 1944, Valekorsa.
They were walking along the Monte Lupino street when they saw the "Moroccans". The warriors approached the women. They were clearly interested in young Malinari. The women began to beg not to do anything, but the soldiers did not understand them. While the two held the girl's mother, the others took turns raping her. When the last one finished, one of the “Moroccans” took out a pistol and shot Malinari.
Elisabetta Rossi, 55, Farneta, tells how, wounded in the stomach with a knife, she watched as her two daughters, 17 and 18 years old, were raped. She received the wound when she tried to protect them. A group of “Moroccans” left her nearby. The next victim was a five-year-old boy who rushed towards them, not understanding what was happening. The child was thrown into a ravine with five bullets in the stomach, where he suffered for a day, after which he died.
Emanuella Valente, May 25, 1944, Santa Lucia, 70 years old.
An elderly woman walked calmly down the street, sincerely thinking that her age would protect her from rape. But he turned out to be, rather, her opponent. When she was spotted by a group of young "Moroccans", Emanuella tried to run away from them. They caught up with her, knocked her down, and broke her wrists. After this, she was subjected to group abuse. She was infected with syphilis. She was ashamed and difficult to tell the doctors exactly what happened to her. The wrist remained injured for the rest of his life. She perceives her illness as martyrdom.”
Ada Andreini 24 years old, June 29, 1944
“June 29, approximately midnight, seven Moroccan soldiers They knocked down the door to the house, killed the men and raped the girl in the presence of their 81-year-old grandmother and 5-year-old son.”
Yolanda Paccioni is 18 years old.
“On May 23, a group of Moroccans grabbed me and other girls. We tried to resist but realized that it would only get worse. The soldiers were surprised by the obedience that appeared and put down their weapons, I managed to throw off the Moroccan and ran. Shots rang out and they hit me in the neck. The remaining girls had it much worse..."
Antoni Colliki, 12 years old: “... when I entered the house, they were holding a knife at the throats of the men, looking for women... then they raped two sisters, who were abused by two hundred “Moroccans.” As a result, one of the sisters died a few days later, the other ended up in a mental hospital.”
Archbishop Toscabelli:
“In a hospital in Siena: 24 girls aged 12 to 14 years old with serious internal bleeding were raped; In the city of Esperia, 700 women were raped, which amounted to 99% of the female population.”

Notable among the murders in Esperia is the death of Don Alberto Terrilli, a priest of the local church of Santa Maria di Esperia, who died after being beaten and raped for several hours, tied to a tree. On May 17, he tried to hide local women and nuns in the monastery, who were also raped in front of the pastor.

Also shocking is the murder of Anastasio Gigli, 11 years old, Leppini Rocacorga. The boy's parents died earlier. The boy was the first to catch the eye of the Gumiers entering the city, who demanded to show them where the well was located. The child got scared and tried to run away from them... Later the boy was found with his stomach torn open in a ditch near the well...

One report states: “20 percent of women are infected with syphilis, 90 percent with gonorrhea; 40 percent of men are infected with wives; 81 percent of buildings are destroyed; 90 percent of cattle are destroyed...”

The resulting figures of violence by French Gumières in Italy were called the “war on women.” or marroquinate. The number of victims varies, it is not possible to establish an exact figure: there are about 80,000 registered statements from victims. Many women were simply embarrassed to report facts of rape, many committed suicide, went crazy... In total, researchers talk about 180,000 victims...

This begs the question: What about the allies?
But nothing... The command somewhere turned a blind eye to what was happening, somewhere it was paid off, and when it was not possible to hush up the matter, the perpetrators had to be tried, although in 1945 only 360 people were sentenced to death, and even a number of Gumiers were shot in units, but these the data has not been made public. Only 15 cases of soldiers being shot by officers on June 26, 1944 are known. Most were sentenced to forced labor and fines.

The British report said, "...women, girls, teenagers and children were raped in the streets, men were castrated... American soldiers entered the city just then and tried to intervene, but the officers stopped them, saying that they were not there, and that the Moroccans gave us this victory."

US Army Sergeant McCormick, who served in the African campaign, recalled: “We asked our Lieutenant Bazik what to do, to which he replied: “I think they are doing what the Italians did with their women in Africa.” We wanted to add that Italian troops did not enter Morocco, but we were ordered not to interfere.”

In June 1944, the head of the Vatican, Pope Pius XII, sent a protest about the wave of violence that was sweeping Italy to General de Gaulle, in which he outlined a request to take action and send only Christian troops to Rome. In response, he received assurances of heartfelt sympathy...

On August 1, 1947, the Italian leadership submitted a protest to the French government. In response - bureaucratic delays, chicanery... and a departure to the “weak morality of Italian women provoking Muslim Moroccans...”

As a result, France generously acknowledged a number of cases of violence and agreed to pay compensation to the victims from 30 to 150 thousand lire, the total amount of payments was reduced by war reparations from Italy.

The reflection of the events that took place in art is most clearly shown in the film by Vittorio de Sica “Ciochara” and the film by John Huston “The White Book”.

Ordinary Italians have not forgotten what the Moroccans did in the cities. The French, especially those of African origin, are not liked in Italy. to this day. It is significant that in the town of Pontecorvo, when a monument to the fallen Gumeras was erected, the next day it was broken. The French Embassy restored the stele, but immediately a severed pig’s head appeared on it (I won’t talk about pigs in Islam). In another Italian town, only the intervention of the carabinieri saved a bus with French veterans from tipping into the abyss when local residents became aware of the trip to the battlefields.

The issue of marroquinata was repeatedly tried to be brought to the international court in 1951, 1993 and 2011, but to this day it remains open...

materials were taken from Italian websites, including the website of the National Association of Victims of Homicides. (A.N.V.M.)

The main rapists of the end of World War II May 9th, 2016

Moroccan Mountain Corps of the French Expeditionary Force at Monte Cassino

In the last post I told you, . The attempt to discredit Soviet soldiers and turn them into a savage horde did not appear out of nowhere. Soviet soldiers fought bravely, bore the burden of war for four years, and it was they who broke the neck of fascism by taking Berlin.

At the same time, there were those who did not particularly show themselves in anything other than atrocities against the civilian population.

As warriors, the Gumiers showed themselves to be mediocre.

Gumier sharpens a bayonet.

But they perfectly compensated for this with “bravery” in atrocities against the civilian population. The Gumiers first showed themselves after the battle of Monte Cassino.

Gumiers on the march in their traditional Berber clothing.

On the night after the end of the battle for Monte Cassino, the Moroccan division of 12,000 Gumiers broke away from its camp and descended on a group of surrounding mountain villages.

They raped everyone they could find in them. The number of women raped between the ages of 11 and 86 is estimated at 3,000. The Moroccans killed about 800 men who tried to stop them. Several hundred women who were raped were killed.

Most beautiful girls Gumiers raped in droves. For example, two sisters, 15 and 18 years old, were raped by over 200 Moroccans. One of them died immediately from these rapes. Another went crazy and spent the rest of her life in a psychiatric clinic.

The crimes of the Gumiers in Italy received a special name: “Morocchinat” and are reflected in the film by Ciochar.

The next place where the Gumiers became famous was Stuttgart, which French soldiers took without a fight on April 21, 1945.

During one day of the Humiers' stay in Stuttgart, 1198 cases of rape of German women were registered! For comparison, the prosecutor of the 1st Belorussian Front registered 72 of them from April 22 to May 5. Native soldiers broke into the underground tram parking lot, which served as a bomb shelter, and robbed and raped for 5 days.

The crime of the Gumiers received wide resonance after it was announced on July 17, 1945 in the US Senate by Senator James Eastland, who returned from a trip to post-war Europe. The French side immediately declared that Eastland was lying, but Monte Cassino's numerous testimony and experience were on the senator's side.

The savage cruelty of African soldiers cannot be attributed to revenge for the atrocities of the Nazis. They simply acted as their animal instincts told them and as their command allowed. 70 years later in tolerant Europe they are trying not to remember this, it’s a painfully dark chapter of the war, and it’s not in trend, it’s easier to blame everything on the “Russian barbarians.”

France was a major world colonial power until the twentieth century. Her possessions extended far to the south, covering vast areas of Africa. As you know, France became the last world state to have colonies. Algeria became independent from the metropolis only in 1962. The French actively used for their own purposes not only minerals and cheap labor of local residents, but also their lives.

Already during the First World War, the French authorities conscripted Africans into service. At that time, over three hundred thousand soldiers from the Maghreb countries fought in the Allied army. The French decided to continue this policy during the Second World War. Although the occupation created certain difficulties, twelve infantry divisions, as well as three spaga brigades formed in colonial countries, fought on various fronts under the French tricolor.

Twelve infantry divisions fought under the French tricolor, as well as three spaga brigades formed in the Maghreb countries // Photo: livejournal.com

Only among the population of countries such as Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia was a conscription carried out, which gave the French army over two hundred and seventy thousand soldiers of European and Arab-Berber origin. They had a chance to fight in their homeland, Italy, and were even among the first to launch an attack on Germany from the Siegfried Line.

Moroccan warriors

Most of the soldiers from Africa, including from Morocco, were illiterate peasants. Often among them there were, so to speak, experienced warriors. The main advantage of such soldiers was that they were perfectly adapted to long marches and it was completely natural for them to fight in the mountains. This gave the Moroccan Gumiers a serious advantage over European soldiers and over the enemy. French officers were assigned to them as mentors. But over time, the Gumiers themselves began to take up officer positions.

It is worth noting that the name “Gumiers” comes from the Arabic word “gum”, meaning “to stand”. A little later, this word began to mean “division”. The Gumiers were divided into units of two hundred people. Three or four such units formed a camp, and three camps formed a group.

Immigrants from Morocco did not go to fight for reasons of patriotism. France was first and foremost a enslaving country for them. Through military service it was possible to significantly improve one’s financial situation, as well as social status. Despite the fact that the soldiers were paid enough for the level of Africa, they could also return home loaded with stolen goods.

Moroccan Gumiers went to war not for reasons of patriotism, but to improve their material and social status// Photo: warspot.ru

In addition to their high endurance, the Moroccan Gumiers were also distinguished by their cruelty. It was typical for them to cut off the nose and ears of defeated enemies. And after the won battle, the Moroccans celebrated the victory in such a way that Italian women have not been able to forget it for decades.

Scarier than the Nazis

It is worth noting that most often the Moroccan Gumeras are remembered not because of their high-profile military victories, but because of the harm that they caused to the female and sometimes male part of the population of southern Italy. For the first time, the atrocities of the Gumers against civilians became known in 1943. Soldiers raped local women after landing in Italy. Often these rapes were group rapes, and the French officers could not do anything about it.

The only thing the Italians asked Charles de Gaulle for was to send Moroccan Gumiers to their homeland // Photo: russian7.ru

In 1944, residents of Italian towns and villages turned directly to Charles de Gaulle during his visit. The only thing they asked for was to send the Moroccans to their homeland. In English military chronicles there are many references to the brutal rape of women, children, teenagers and even adult men by Moroccan Gumiers.

Horror at Monte Cassino

In May 1944, Moroccans took part in the liberation of the Abbey of Monte Cassino. After defeating the troops of the Third Reich, they were given fifty hours of freedom, which went down in history as the “Moroccan horror.”

The Gumiers raped and robbed everyone they could get their hands on. If the victim turned out to be particularly attractive, then several dozen, or even hundreds of people would line up to her. There were often cases when women raped by Moroccans died from multiple internal injuries or were killed by their rapists.

A case is described when the pastor of one of the churches tried to hide young girls from the gumiers. The Moroccans discovered his intentions, tied him up and also began to rape him until the priest died. The same thing happened to the women he tried to save. Those events are described in the novel “Ciochara” by Alberto Moravia, which was filmed in the sixties by director Vittorio de Sica. The main role was played by Sophia Loren. The film tells the story of a mother and daughter who became victims of rapists.

The atrocities of the Gumiers are described in Alberto Moravia’s novel “Ciochara,” which was filmed in the sixties by director Vittorio de Sica. Sophia Loren played the main role // Photo: ria.ru

According to official data, over twenty thousand people were subjected to violence by the Moroccan Gumiers. But, as historians admit, two-thirds of the victims either kept silent about what happened to him or did not live. The authorities tried to fight the rapists. There were convictions and some were killed on the spot. But still, the majority remained unpunished.

Following the results of the Second World War, it is generally accepted that the Nazis were the most cruel - the list of atrocities committed by the Nazis is inexhaustible. But no less cruel in the history of World War II were the Moroccan Gumiers - soldiers of the French Expeditionary Force; who took part in the liberation of Europe.

Gumeras of Morocco: Rapists in law

After the end of World War II, the Italian government tried to hold the Moroccan Gumers accountable for the atrocities they committed on Italian territory. But the question still remains open.

Fearless Highlanders

A little history. Moroccan goumiers are soldiers from Morocco who were used in the auxiliary military units of the French army from 1908 to 1956, until Moroccan independence. The first Goumiers were recruited by colonial France in Southern Algeria and used to conquer Morocco in 1908. From the same year, France recruited Gumiers already in Morocco. Separate units of Gumiers began to form in 1922.
At least 22 thousand Gumiers - Moroccan subjects - took part in World War II. The Gumiers fought in World War II against German and Italian troops in Libya in 1940, against German troops in Tunisia in 1942-1943, and in Italy from 1943 to 1945. They also took part in the liberation of France from the Nazis in 1944. Moroccan Gumiers were hardy, unassuming and brave soldiers. In March 1945, they were the first to enter the territory of Nazi Germany from the Siegfried Line. But they fought so bravely not out of patriotism, but solely for the sake of earning money and out of loyalty to the leaders of the tribes who sent them to war.
The Gumer regiments often recruited the poorest inhabitants of the Maghreb. Most of them were illiterate and considered the French officers to be temporary tribal leaders. In November 1943, Gumer units were transferred to mainland Italy, and in May 1944 they played a decisive role in the crossing of the Avrunca Mountains, showing themselves to be indispensable mountain riflemen.
However, with the participation of the Gumiers in Italy, many modern European researchers associate not only their military courage and high combat effectiveness, but also the unjustified cruelty that was manifested towards the civilian population. The Gumiers are remembered for their atrocities in Italy along with the Nazis. Although France has a different opinion. At one time, French Marshal Jean Joseph Marie Gabriel de Lattre de Tassigny made a statement that information about the atrocities of the Gumiers against civilians was greatly exaggerated. That it was German propaganda, the purpose of which was to discredit the French allied forces. But let’s return to the events in Italy, where since 1943, several regiments of Gumiers, recruited from the Berbers - the native tribes of Morocco, fought as part of the French Expeditionary Force.

Nightmare of Monte Cassino

“War on Women” - this is how one of the periods of World War II in Italy is called in the historical literature of the Apennines today. In modern literature about the Second World War, the most illuminated story is the capture of Monte Cassino in the central part of the country in May 1944 by Allied forces. According to many historical sources, the Gumiers, after the liberation of Monte Cassino from the Nazis, staged a real pogrom in the surrounding area, plunging the local population into horror.
On the night after the liberation of Monte Cassino, the command announced “fifty hours of freedom” for the liberating soldiers. The Gumiers abruptly left the camp and, like predatory kites, swooped down on the mountain villages. They robbed and destroyed houses, raped all the women in the villages, including old women, girls and even teenage boys. Thus, reports from the 71st German Division recorded 600 rapes in the town of Spigno in just three days.
In total, the Gumiers raped about 3,000 women ranging in age from 11 to 86 years. Some were literally raped to death - more than 100 raped women died. Among them were two sisters, 15 and 18 years old, each of whom was raped by more than 200 soldiers. The youngest died from her injuries, the eldest went crazy. For gang rape, the Gumiers chose the most beautiful, tall women and lined up in long lines.
The Gumiers tied up and raped all night the pastor of the small town of Esperia, who tried to intercede for his parishioners. During these mass rapes, approximately 800 men were killed as they tried to protect their wives and daughters. In addition, there were many cases of victims of violence being infected with sexually transmitted diseases, which had dire consequences for small villages in the regions of Tuscany and Lazio.
In addition to this, even in the 20th century, the Gumiers never abandoned the ancient habit of cutting off the nose and ears of the corpses of enemies - they considered this to be legitimate war trophies. But the main horror that was remembered then by the residents of the regions and regions of Italy liberated from Hitler’s occupation was precisely these terrible mass rapes, which often ended in brutal murders.
The Gumiers, according to eyewitnesses, killed easily, casually, both children and old people. Everyone who came their way. In March 1944, when de Gaulle made his first visit to the Italian front, local residents literally begged him to quickly return the Moroccans to their homeland. But de Gaulle only promised to use the Gumiers as carabinieri to protect public order.
In Sicily, the Gumiers also raped everyone. The partisans were forced to forget about the fight against the Nazis and save villages and their inhabitants from the Moroccans - marauders, rapists and murderers of civilians. The allies were shocked by what was happening. Reports from the British and Americans said that the Gumiers openly raped old women, children and teenagers, and even prisoners in local prisons on the streets.
After the end of the war, the Gumiers were sent home, but the Italians did not want and could not come to terms with what had happened. On April 7, 1952, the lower house of the Italian Parliament heard testimony from numerous victims of the Gumeras. The mother of 17-year-old Malinari Vella spoke about the tragic events of May 27, 1944: “We were walking along Monte Lupino Street and saw Moroccans. The soldiers were clearly attracted to young Malinari. We begged the soldiers 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.”
Here’s what Elisabetta Rossi from the Farneta region told parliament: “I tried to protect my daughters, 18 and 17 years old, 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 at him and threw him into a ravine. The next day the child died...”

Left unpunished

The atrocities of the Gumiers at Monte Cassino are realistically described in the novel “Ciochara” by the famous Italian communist and writer Alberto Moravia, on which the film of the same name was based. It is unlikely that the communist Moravia sought to discredit the Allied troops who liberated Italy from the Nazis. In 1943, he and his wife hid in Ciociaria (Lazio region) and later reflected in the novel what they saw with their own eyes.
In 2011, the president of the National Association of Victims of Moroccan Gumeras, Emiliano Ciotti, announced the number of victims of violence - at least 20 thousand registered alone. De facto - three times more.
It must be said that such behavior of the Gumiers was natural, given the specific mentality of native warriors and the negative attitude towards Europeans in general and the vanquished in particular. Plus low discipline in the units due to the small number of French officers. At the time of World War II, the Gumiers were under the command of tribal officers.
After the war, Italy tried to ensure that those responsible were punished. On August 1, 1947, the Italian government sent an official protest to France, but in response they received formal replies. In 1951 and 1993, the issue of punishment and compensation for victims was again raised by Italy, but remains unanswered to this day.
After the victory over Nazi Germany, the Gumiers were transferred to Indochina, where France tried to prevent Vietnam from declaring its independence from its mother country. And in 1956, the independence of Morocco from France was proclaimed, all Moroccan military units entered the service of their king. In modern Morocco, the function of the gumiers is actually inherited by the royal gendarmerie, which is engaged in maintaining order among the population, including in mountainous areas.

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

However, one of the most scary pages in the history of World War II, it was inscribed 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 Gumiers 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. By order of the Allied command, the Moroccan Gumiers were placed at the disposal of the 1st American Infantry Division. 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 Gumers 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 were supposed 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.

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.

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, the 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.

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.

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. Thus, two young sisters, 18 and 15 years old, were raped by more than 200 gumiers each. The younger sister died from her injuries and ruptures, the eldest went crazy and was kept in a psychiatric hospital for 53 years until her death.

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 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.

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 Valecors: “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 said.

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.