(1887-02-02)2 February 1887 Modena, Kingdom of Italy
Died
7 January 1968(1968-01-07) (aged 80) Rome, Italy
Allegiance
Kingdom of Italy
Service/branch
Royal Italian Army
Years of service
1906–1943
Rank
General
Commands held
Corpo Truppe Volontarie
Flechas Division
Italian Second Army
Battles/wars
World War I
Spanish Civil War
Battle of Málaga
Battle of Guadalajara
World War II in Yugoslavia
Invasion of Yugoslavia
Case White
Spouse(s)
Ines Mancini[2]
Children
1
Mario Roatta (2 February 1887 – 7 January 1968) was an Italian general. After serving in World War I he rose to command the Corpo Truppe Volontarie which assisted Francisco Franco's force during the Spanish Civil War. He was the Deputy Chief of Staff of the Italian Army from October 1939 to March 1941 and from March 1941 to January 1942 its Chief of Staff and helped in preparing for the invasion of Yugoslavia.
He is best known for his role as the commander of the Italian Second Army in its repression against civilians, in the Slovene- and Croatian-inhabited areas of Italian-occupied and annexed Yugoslavia during World War II.[3]
He constructed a policy in which he attempted to eliminate the Yugoslav Partisans, helped manage relations with the authorities of the puppet Independent State of Croatia, and "greatly advanced and systematized" collaboration with the Chetniks. As a "manifesto for repression in the Yugoslav territories", Roatta issued Circular 3C which urged "ethnic clearance" be carried out and stressed the need for "complete cleansing" of Slovene-inhabited areas. In line with Circular 3C's objectives Roatta ordered summary executions, hostage taking, reprisals, internments, burning of houses and whole villages, and the deportation of 25,000 people, who were placed in Italian concentration camps at Rab, Gonars, Monigo (Treviso), Renicci d'Anghiari, Chiesanuova and elsewhere. The survivors received no compensation from the Italian state after the war.[1] The deportees had formed about 7.5 percent of the total population of the Italian-annexed Province of Ljubljana.
Roatta's ruthless and often brutal methods of repression in Yugoslavia earned him the nickname of the "Black Beast of Yugoslavia".[4]
^ abCarroll 2001.
^"Ines Roatta". GENi. 26 May 2020. Retrieved 24 June 2022.
MarioRoatta (2 February 1887 – 7 January 1968) was an Italian general. After serving in World War I he rose to command the Corpo Truppe Volontarie which...
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He is considered by many to be the best Italian general of the war. MarioRoatta was a general of the Italian army, best known for his role in Italian...
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marshal "Black Baron" – Michael Wittmann, German tank ace "Black Beast" – MarioRoatta, Italian general "Black Bob" – Robert Craufurd, British Army general...
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