Alemitu Alene

Father's name: Alene Melessa

Mother's name: Wagai Germai

Year of birth: 1947

Place of birth: Maidamo, Welkait

Region in Ethiopia: Tigray

Main occupation in Ethiopia: Housewife (wife of a wealthy merchant)

The language of the interview: Tigrinya

Alemitu Alene, agriculture, trade, weapons, marriage, divorce, housekeeping, Adne Yasamni, theft, money lending, coffee, rebels, battles, forced conscription, fighting, tasks, wealth, menstruation house, customs and tradition, Derg, Hawaza Adi Akrai, Maidamo, Tigray, Shire, Asamra, Addis Ababa, Sudan.

Summary of the testimony:

Alemitu talks about her family, describes her village, Maidamo, and discusses the local history. Until her marriage, she lived in her parents’ home in Hawaza Adi Arkai. After an unsuccessful first marriage, she remarried and moved to the city of Shire in the province of Tigray.

Her second husband, Adne Yesmani, established a business trading in coffee, ginger and various crops, but his main occupation was weapons dealing. In the beginning, he would travel to the city of Asmara to do business. As the business grew, most of his activities shifted to Addis Ababa, which he would reach by plane. This was a luxury reserved only for the extremely wealthy.

Alemitu and her husband initially rented their home. After they became financially comfortable, they built a house in the city of Shire. Alemitu describes both the rented house and the house she built with her husband, as well as its contents. The new house also contained storehouses for the various wares and Alemitu describes how trucks would come and go from the compound. The wares were often unloaded at night due to fear of theft. Her husband would also sneak into the house at night to avoid robbers.

Due to their wealth, the couple were also well-known money lenders. Among other things, Alemitu talks about how they handled cases in which their money was not repaid.

Alemitu talks about the family’s daily routine, about managing the house and its servants, and about the guests who were invited for celebrations and events in her home. As she was often unwell and avoided going shopping, merchants came to her house to display their wares.

When the rebel organizations against the Derg regime entered Shire, Alemitu and her children found themselves in the middle of a warzone. She describes constant shooting for six days around her house.

Alemitu describes the fear and the dangers that lurked around every corner. On one hand, the Derg regime could kidnap her children and conscript them to the army at any given moment. On the other hand, the rebels against the regime persecuted her husband and threatened to execute him, as they had marked him as a governmental worker.

Alemitu and her family eventually immigrated to Israel by way of Sudan.