I recently finished reading the Tigrigna version of The Nurenebi Files (ማህደር ኑረነቢ), translated by Solomon Berhe. It is one of the most exciting books I have ever read; I simply could not put it down. The author, Tesfaye Gebreab (RIP), was clearly a brilliant writer. So I decided to write a little, using the Nurenebi book as my source.
The Hero and the Mystery
The main character in the book is Gabriel Edmondo Nurenebi. As a sidenote, Gabriel’s father and uncle were named Adem and Idris, respectively, by their birth parents (i.e. Nurenebi and Zahra). Gabriel kept a diary, which served as the basis for the book chronicling the journey and tribulation of the Eritrean family from the late 1800s till independence.
It brilliantly captures Eritrea’s historical eras through captivating episodes of the journeys taken by descendants of Nurenbi, from Nurenebi’s struggles against the Italians to the martyrdom of Mokenen Gabriel in the war for independence.
While the book covers many themes, I want to focus on one mystery that remains unsolved.
Gabriel opposed Italy’s invasion plans on Ethiopia not through mere words but by actions. He risked his life by passing critical, classified information to the Ethiopian emperor.
But he was betrayed by an Ethiopian double agent working inside the emperor’s high office. Surprisingly, the name of the person who betrayed him was kept secret, and not for artistic reasons, but to protect the "family" of the traitor, even 80 years later.
It’s a reflection of Eritrean history, where many of our kins play indispensable role in helping to safeguard Ethiopia against foreign forces but then those same successive Ethiopian regimes turn around to backstab us.
A History of Bravery
Gabriel’s employment in a critical Italian office in Mogadishu gave him easy access to sensitive information about Italy’s 1935 war plan against Ethiopia. He leveraged this access to pass along all kinds of classified information to Ethiopia, including details about troop size, strategy, weapons and war maps.
Not stopping there, he also worked hard to persuade many Eritreans to oppose the war, to flee and join the Ethiopian side. Many Eritreans indeed opposed the invasion and joined their Ethiopian neighbors, paying with their precious lives! It was the same case in 1896, with the most famous one being Bashai Awalom, whose father is believed to be Eritrean.
To be clear, Gabriel never believed for a second that he was Ethiopian or had any desire for Eritrea to be part of Ethiopia. He believed that Eritrea should be its own country, free from Italy or any other foreign force including Ethiopia.
He opposed the invasion based on principle, on the belief that war is not necessary to end the slave trade and feudalistic rule of the emperor, that imposing Italy’s apartheid rule of Eritrea on Ethiopia is no improvement.
The Betrayal of Gabriel
So how was Gabriel rewarded for his courageous act? As Tesfaye Gebreab tells through his storytelling, based on actual true events, Gabriel was betrayed by an Ethiopian official secretly collaborating with the Italians.
This traitor allowed the Italian consulate in Addis Ababa to get hold off the dossier, resulting in the arrest of Gabriel and many other Eritreans suspected of being part of the network.
During “interrogation” in Mogadishu, he endured unimaginable torture at the hands of the Italians, including nails and hammer being applied to the bottom of his feet and even one gunshot to his foot.
After initially sentencing him to death, his life was spared thanks to the intervention by some people who had the ears of Rodolfo Graziani, the Italian commander in charge of the war campaign from the Somali front.
Hence, he was instead sentenced to 20 years but set free much earlier after the British defeated Italy.
A Lingering Mystery
The most haunting question is how this betrayal came to pass. The identity of the person who snitched isn’t the main part of the book but an important one for astute reader.
Tesfaye writes with such energy that you can’t stop reading, but he purposely hides the name of the Ethiopian traitor who was secretly working for the Italians.
Even though this double agent caused Gabriel immense physical and emotional pain, Gabriel chose never to tell his family the name of the traitor out of respect for the agent's children and grandchildren.
He believed no benefit can come from it, that it would only shame the agent’s offsprings. And Tesfaye honored Gabriel’s wish to keep the secret.
But a lot has happened since Gabriel passed away in 1983. I wonder if he would hold that same belief now, with the benefit of knowing all the treachery and backstabbing that Eritreans have experienced for centuries.
Would he persist in this path? I’d like to believe that he would speak up. It is what’s required to document history as well as preventing perpetrators from abusing that silence.
The Clues
Luckily, author Tesfaye did give clues for curious readers (see 379 and 478). He tells us that the agent was a high-ranking official, with immense power and local standing.
This Italian collaborator is actually seen as having been part of the Patriots (Arbegnoch) with significant contribution to the resistance against Italy.
It is not known whether or not emperor Hailesilase knew off the agent’s treachery but he was allowed to hold high positions in Hailesilase’s government until his death.
Pointing to the typical palace intrigue, we learn that the agent had personal issues with Hailesilase and may have had some feelings of entitlement to power.
In fact, he even abused his power by having Gabriel jailed in the notorious prison, Alem Beqagn, for about fourteen months.
Strangely, Gabriel was not charged with any crime; he was never even questioned or interrogated during those fourteen months.
No one would tell him why he was jailed, until he is told two weeks before his release that the agent feared Gabriel was investigating the identity of the traitor within.
Gabriel only told his family that the agent was a Dejazmatch, without revealing his name.
But we also know that he was one of the 60 officials that were executed by the Derg regime in 1974 since Gabriel pays him a visit in prison.
Mystery revealed?
Using the above clues, I searched online for the full list of officials with a Dejazmatch title that were executed in 1974. There were eight or ten of them.
I then trimmed that list further to only those that are known to have been part of the resistance against Italy. It identified only three with clear connection to the resistance: Workineh, Worku and Aemero.
My final question was to indicate which one from these three may have had personal issues with the emperor in addition to some royal lineage that can feed ambitions of power intrigue.
It listed just one and eliminated the other two! It indicated that one of the three came from a prominent noble family background.
It further indicated that some Ethiopian historians suggest he was part of the old aristocratic circle pre-dating Hailesilase’s consolidation of power in 1940s to 1950s.
With these clues, I leave it to the reader to identify the name by themselves. Do you arrive at similar conclusion as I do?
Having identified the collaborator, it is natural to ask whether or not emperor Hailesilase knew of the treacherous act.
Historical records indicate that Hailesilase didn’t always mete out harsh punishments for such acts. He instead tended to re-assign, demote or even promote them as their secrets made it easier to control them.
Given this historical tendency, therefore, it is highly likely that he also knew of the true nature of the man that betrayed Gabriel.
It is sufficient to list a couple of examples from the memoir of John Spencer, the American adviser who was associated with Hailesilase for nearly 40 years, to illustrate the practice:
· Page 21: “We did not know that the Ministry of Posts, Telegraphs and Telephones had already been penetrated by Italian intelligence….The minister, Tekle Marqos, had been director general of the Ministry of Pen, a position of enormous influence. Under suspicion of being in the pay of the Italians, he was transferred to the Ministry of Posts, Telegraphs and Telephones (PTT). Hailesillassie’s mistaken strategy was to administer a demotion and a warning by a face-saving promotion from the rank of director-general in one service to that of a minister in another.”
· Page 344: “the military elite before the 1974 coup could be separated into four categories…third came the group of officers widely known as the collaborators (tebabarioch) with the Fascists including the Emperor’s aide, Gen. Mekonnen Deneke, whom as many others, Haile Sellasie had deliberately raised to high position precisely because he had the certainty of being able to control them through blackmail.”
Conclusion
I know many prefer not to dredge up the past to protect families and loved ones. I respect the cultural principle, widely held across Eritrea, of staying silent to avoid shaming children or relatives who are innocent of a person’s actions.
This is a noble sentiment. However, when it comes to national security and historical truth, I believe the public has a right to the facts.
We must find a way to tell the truth while still respecting the family’s dignity and privacy. Accountability, legitimacy, and credibility are the bedrock of a healthy nation.
A half-told history isn’t history at all. Without the full truth, people will naturally distrust "declassified" information.
