Shumail at 15:35, 11 January 2026

2026-01-11T15:35:08Z

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{{More citations needed|date=March 2019}}
{{Update|date=June 2024|reason=contains no information about concentration camps for Jews in WWII}}
{{Infobox civilian attack
| title = Italian concentration camps in Libya
| partof = [[Second Italo-Senussi War]], [[Libyan genocide (1929–1934)|Libyan genocide]], and [[The Holocaust in Libya]]
| image = Al-Magroon Concentration Camp.jpg
| image_size = 250
| caption = Inmates at the [[Sid Ahmed el Maghrun concentration camp]]
| alt =
| map =
| map_size =
| map_alt =
| map_caption =
| motive = [[Colonialism]], suppression of [[Senussis|Senussi]] resistance
| location = [[Libya]]
| target = [[Libyans]]
| coordinates =
| date = 1929 – 1934
| time =
| timezone =
| type = [[internment]]
| fatalities = 50,000 to 70,000<ref name="Ali Abdullatif">{{Cite book |last=Ahmida |first=Ali Abdullatif |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YujyDwAAQBAJ |title=Genocide in Libya: Shar, a Hidden Colonial History |date=2020-08-06 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-000-16936-2 |pages=46 |language=en}}</ref>
| victims = 100,000 to 110,000 deported to concentration camps<ref name=":5"/>
| perps = [[Fascist Italy]]
| susperps =
| susperp =
| weapons =
| numparts =
| numpart =
| dfens =
| dfen =
}}
During the [[Italian colonization of Libya]] (1911-1943) the [[Kingdom of Italy]] (1861-1946) established [[Concentration camp|concentration camps]] in the areas of modern [[Libya]] under its control in order to better subjugate the [[Demographics of Libya|local population]] and to more effectively [[Counterinsurgency|suppress]] [[Resistance movement|resistance]] to Italian [[Colonialism|colonial rule]].

== Background: the beginning of Italian colonization in Libya ==
{{Main|Italian colonization of Libya}}
The [[Italian colonization of Libya]] began in 1911, when Libya was [[Ottoman Tripolitania|part]] of the [[Ottoman Empire]], and ended in 1943. Following the 1911-1912 [[Italo-Turkish War]] in [[Libya]], the [[Kingdom of Italy]] seized the territory and established the colonies of [[Italian Tripolitania]] and [[Italian Cyrenaica]]. In 1934, these two colonies were unified into [[Italian Libya]]. Colonial [[oppression]] intensified following unification of the colonies and the onset of Italy's participation in [[World War II]]. In 1940, under [[Fascist Italy|Fascist rule]], Italy joined [[Nazi Germany]] and the [[Empire of Japan]] as an [[Axis powers|Axis power]]. In 1943, Italian rule in Libya effectively ended with the government's [[Fall of the Fascist regime in Italy|military defeat by Allied forces]] and the subsequent onset of [[Allied administration of Libya|Allied occupation]]. The [[Italy|modern]] [[Succession of states|successor state]] to the Kingdom of Italy, however, only formally relinquished all claims to Libya with the [[Paris Peace Treaties, 1947|1947 Paris Peace Treaty]].

The conquest of Libya took place in two phases; the first began on the 4th of October 1911 under [[Giovanni Giolitti]]’s command. The expansionism would have ensured raw materials and a new land to migrate for Italians. Additionally, Italy would have benefited economically from the conquest because it could gain control of the [[Sahara]] trade. However, the most determinant argument to conquer Libya was the [[southern question]] ([[Italian language|Italian]]: ''questione meridionale'') that took place in Italy during the 1890s.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Aruffo |first=Alessandro |title=Storia del Colonialismo Italiano: da Crispi a Mussolini |publisher=DATANEWS Editrice |year=2007 |isbn=978-88-7981-315-0 |location=Rome |pages=48–65}}</ref>

The landless and sharecropping peasants in the south were putting pressure on the Italian ruling elites claiming land and voting rights. Following a series of riots and rebellions in the south, the ruling classes attempted to find a solution to this problem by relocating Italian peasants in colonies.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Ahmida |first=Ali Abdullatif |title=The Making of Modern Libya: State Formation, Colonization, and Resistance, 1830-1832 |publisher=State University of New York Press |year=1994 |isbn=0-7914-1762-X |location=Albania |pages=104–106}}</ref>

[[Giolitti]] assumed that since Libyans had resented Ottoman rule from 1551 until 1911, Italians would be welcomed by the local population, however, this was not the case. Libyans for a long time placed a strong resistance against the occupation and fought anti-colonial resistance with an army of volunteers from 1911 to 1915, then they managed to defeat the Italian army that in 1916 made a truce.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-05-04 |title=Genocide, Historical Amnesia and Italian Settler Colonialism in Libya—An Interview with Ali Abdullatif Ahmida |url=https://merip.org/2022/05/genocide-historical-amnesia-and-italian-settler-colonialism-in-libya-an-interview-with-ali-abdullatif-ahmida/ |access-date=2022-05-17 |website=MERIP |language=en-US}}</ref>

=== Mussolini Regime and the integration of Fascism ===
The second phase started with the arrival of Benito [[Benito Mussolini|Mussolini]], an Italian politician, leader and founder of the [[National Fascist Party]]. He rose to power as Prime Minister of Italy from March 1922 until his deposition in 1943. With his arrival, he took control over the colonization expenditure and the scale of the occupation escalated.<ref name=":2">{{cite podcast |host= |title=Genocide in Libya: Shar, a Hidden Colonial History |website=Status |publisher=Spotify |date=August 2020 |url=https://open.spotify.com/episode/0rwhtaEN6ifm6J7VD1tkIU?si=3178d0bdee1045db |access-date=17 May 2022}}</ref>

He referred to Libya as the "[[Fourth Shore]]" because it represented the fourth side of the national quadrilateral completed by the three coasts of the Adriatic where there are [[Trieste]], [[Bari]] and [[Durrës|Durazzo]].<ref name=":3">{{Cite book |last=Moore |first=Martin |title=Fourth Shore: Italy's mass colonization of Libya |publisher=Routledge |year=1940 |location=London |pages=129–135}}</ref> Deadly instruments of war were used because it was clear that in order to empty the land, the native population had to be defeated.

The motive behind this colonization was that fascists dreamed of settling 500,000 to 1 million Italians in the “fourth shore”.

The state financed and officially organized a mass migration of peasant-farming families on the African coast of the Mediterranean. Amongst the 6,000 families who were admitted “to plead” only 1,800 of them were selected. The requirements were clear, working units - which did not include friends or relations but only close family members - had to be composed of at least 10 members, all healthy and loyal. Additionally, the family had to be experienced in the field of agriculture.<ref name=":2"/>

The settlers desired to migrate as [[Italy]] was becoming over-crowded and there was a strong urge to “own land”. These farms were ready in seven months; the colonists walked into efficiently constructed white farmhouses with irrigating aqueducts, asphalt roads and private lands that averaged thirty-seven acres.<ref name=":4">{{Cite book |last=Salerno |first=Eric |title=Genocidio in Libia: le Atrocità nascoste dell'Avventura Coloniale Italiana |publisher=Manifestolibri |year=2005 |isbn=88-7285-389-3 |location=Rome |pages=83–84}}</ref>

Families were also allowed to visit their village centres, which included churches, cinemas, sports and co-operatives.

Italy was enthusiastic about this project because the country wished to achieve self-sufficiency in the production of corn and oil and furthermore because they had estimated that by 1943 the national population living in Libya would reach 100,000 of which an approximate 40,000 men representing a strong military reserve in a strategic corner of the [[Mediterranean Sea|Mediterranean]].<ref name=":3"/>

=== Popular resistance ===
[[File:Omar al-Mukhtar photo.jpg|thumb|171x171px|Omar al-Mukthar]]
However, the Italians had underestimated the resistance of the Ottoman army and in particular of the Libyan population. In fact, even if the government of the country was apparently weak, the society was used to self administrate itself based on religious or sectarian organizations. Once arrived in Libya, the fascists faced a poor yet organized and stubborn resistance that they had to fight for 20 years.<ref name=":5">{{cite podcast |host=Jeff Bachman |title=Ali Abdullatif Ahmida, "Genocide in Libya: Shar, a Hidden Colonial History" |website=Middle Eastern Studies |publisher=Spotify |date=December 2020 |url=https://open.spotify.com/episode/0goI0WVh9k2LkP6N2sexK2?si=b03d9dd62c894f9c |access-date=17 May 2022}}</ref>

The face of the armed Arab opposition mainly happened in [[Cyrenaica]] under the leadership of [[Omar Mukhtar]], where Italian forces under the Generals [[Pietro Badoglio]] and [[Rodolfo Graziani]] waged punitive pacification campaigns which turned into brutal and bloody acts of [[Political repression|repression]].<ref name=":0"/>

However, with the arrival of [[Benito Mussolini|Mussolini]], the generals were given the command to stop compromising with the resistance and to defeat it with violence at whatever cost in order to free the land for settlement.<ref name=":0"/>

The [[Frontier Wire (Libya)|Frontier Wire]], a barbed wire fence was built from the Mediterranean to the oasis of [[Jaghbub|Al-Jaghbub]] to sever lines critical to the resistance. Soon afterwards, the colonial administration began the wholesale deportation of the people from the mountains of [[Jebel Akhdar (Libya)|Jebel Akhdar]], to deny the rebels the support of the local population.<ref name=":2"/>

=== Mass deportation ===
[[File: Deportation of Nomadic Tribes in Cyrenaica.jpg|thumb|Members of the nomadic tribes of Cyrenaica with their herds during their forceful transfer to the Italian concentration camps.]]
[[Italian Fascism|Fascist Italy]] maintained several [[concentration camps]] in [[Cyrenaica]] (Eastern Libya) during the later phase of its occupation of that country. In order to win against the resistance in Libya, the Italian troops were ordered to isolate the native troops.<ref name=":6">Ali Ahmida - The Forgotten Genocide in Libya on the UNE Center for Global Humanities channel on [[YouTube]]. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1VYp548TOA</ref>

Furthermore, Italy felt that they had the right to colonize the whole Mediterranean because they are the successors of the Roman empire. Mussolini desired to transplant a new Roman and Fascist civilization within the African land.

Firstly a fence along 300 kilometres of the Egyptian border was built in order to cut the supply of primary resources. Shortly after between 100,000 and 110,000 children, women, and elderly people and 600,000 animals were moved to the [[Sirte Basin|Sirte desert]] in concentration camps in [[Suluq]], [[El Magrun]], [[Abyar, Libya|Abyar]] and [[El Agheila]] where 16 concentration camps had been built and tens of thousands died in squalid conditions.<ref name=":5"/>

[[Fascist Italy]] maintained several [[concentration camps]] in [[Cyrenaica]] (Eastern Libya) during the later phase of its occupation of that country. After the initial invasion in 1911, the Italian control over much of the country remained ineffective.

This destructive period went on from 1929 until 1934. The local population died of starvation, untreated diseases and overall deprivation of support and aid. In addition to starvation and disease, people in the camps were traumatized by the continuous public executions of prisoners and by “'''marad'''”. This word describes the physical and psychological trauma caused by the separation of the herds from the seminomad population. In their culture, animal/human unity was essential and seeing that their herds were being left to die of hunger was unbearable.<ref name=":7">{{Cite book |last=Ahmida |first=Ali Abdullatif |title=Genocide in Libya: Shar, a Hidden Colonial History |publisher=Routledge |year=2021 |isbn=978-0-367-46889-7 |location=New York |pages=99–120}}</ref> Almost 168,000 animals were captured and killed.<ref name=":4"/>

The Libyan population used the word “'''shar'''” to describe the horror of the genocide in the death camps. This word comes from the religious book of the [[Quran|Qur’an]] and it means evil, the opposite of good.

The survivors released in 1934 were less than 40,000. They were free but stayed under surveillance for 2 years as they could not go back to their houses because they were occupied by Italians.<ref name=":1"/>

=== Estimates of deaths in concentration camps ===
[[File:Karte Libyen italienische Konzentrationslager.svg|thumb|Italian concentration camps in Libya 1930–1933]]
By the end it was estimated that a total number of 60,000 to 70,000 people died. The total number of Libyans who died either through combat or mainly due to starvation and disease is unclear, however, in 1910 the Libyan population was made up of around 1.5 million people while in 1943 it had significantly decreased to 800,000.<ref name=":6"/> [[Ilan Pappé]] estimates that between 1928 and 1932 the Italian military "killed half the Bedouin population (directly or through disease and starvation in camps)."<ref>[[Ilan Pappé]], ''The Modern Middle East.'' Routledge, 2005, {{ISBN|0-415-21409-2}}, p. 26.</ref> Italian historian [[Emilio Gentile]] estimates 50,000 deaths resulting from the [[Pacification of Libya|suppression]] of resistance.<ref>{{cite web |date=1 March 2011 |title=Un patriota della Cirenaica |url=http://retedue.rsi.ch/home/networks/retedue/oggilastoria/2011/03/01/patriota-cirenaica.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110511094034/http://retedue.rsi.ch/home/networks/retedue/oggilastoria/2011/03/01/patriota-cirenaica.html |archive-date=11 May 2011 |access-date=24 March 2011 |publisher=retedue.rsi.ch |df=dmy-all}}</ref>

=== Genocide recognition ===
Since the first phase of colonization, Italian media reported a distorted narrative of the conflict. The Italians were depicted as liberators from Ottoman rule, and the repression campaigns, such as the ones following the battle of [[Sciara Sciat]], were hidden from the population. On the other side, the Arabs were described as 'beasts' that needed to be civilized by the Europeans.<ref name=":1"/>

For this reason, it was difficult to convince the Italian population of the genocidal nature of the National Fascist colonization campaign in Libya. This part of colonial history is almost an erased memory. Internationally, the Italian people are recognised as people of culture, arts, and beauty, and hence they are thought to be incapable of committing such crimes.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ahmida |first=Ali Abdullatif |title=Forgotten Voices: Power and Agency in Colonial and Postcolonial Libya |publisher=Routledge Taylor and Francis Group |year=2005 |isbn=0-415-94987-4 |location=New York |pages= 36–39}}</ref>

Italian [[Fascism]] is still today considered moderate in comparison to the [[Nazi Germany|Nazi]] party in [[Germany]], when the truth is that the latter took inspiration from Italian concentration camps and methods of repression.

However, the Libyan colonization can be considered genocide because the population was killed intentionally and the cultural, biological and economic basis of the community was completely destroyed and replaced.<ref name=":6"/>

=== 2008 Cooperation Treaty ===
On 30 August 2008, Gaddafi and [[Italy|Italian]] [[Prime Minister of Italy|Prime Minister]] [[Silvio Berlusconi]] signed a historic Friendship, Partnership and [[Cooperation]] [[treaty]] in [[Benghazi]] Under its terms, Italy will pay $5 billion to Libya as compensation for its former military occupation. In exchange, Libya will take measures to combat [[illegal immigration]] coming from its shores and boost [[investment]]s in Italian companies. The treaty was ratified by Italy on 6 February 2009, and by Libya on 2 March, during a visit to [[Tripoli, Libya|Tripoli]] by Berlusconi.<ref>{{cite news |date=2009-03-02 |title=Libya agrees pact with Italy to boost investment |publisher=Alarab Online |url=http://www.alarabonline.org/english/display.asp?fname=2009%5C03%5C03-02%5Czbusinessz%5C988.htm&dismode=x&ts=02/03/2009%2004:42:49%20ã |url-status=dead |access-date=2009-06-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090618080801/http://www.alarabonline.org/english/display.asp?fname=2009%5C03%5C03-02%5Czbusinessz%5C988.htm&dismode=x&ts=02/03/2009%2004:42:49%20%C3%A3 |archive-date=2009-06-18}}</ref>

The intent was therefore, to put an end to the disputes related to colonialism, but contemporarily, create an advantageous economic condition for Italy.

== Camps for Libyan natives in World War II ==
Fascist Italy, aligned with Nazi Germany during World War II, operated a number of concentration camps and labor camps for Libyan natives. Among them are [[Giado concentration camp|Giado]], [[Buq Buq labor camp|Buq Buq]], and [[Sidi Azaz labor camp|Sidi Azaz]].

==References==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
* [http://www.campifascisti.it/elenco_tipo_campi.php?id_tipo=1 Campo di Concentramento] at I Campi Fascisti

{{Italian Libya}}

{{coord missing|Libya}}

[[Category:Italian concentration camps in Libya| ]]
[[Category:Italian Cyrenaica]]
[[Category:World War II sites in Libya]]
[[Category:Italy–Libya relations]]
[[Category:Italian war crimes in Libya]]

Italian concentration camps in Libya - Revision history

Shumail at 15:35, 11 January 2026