Five Brothers and a War

Jan’s Liberation

When Jan was liberated, it was the Moroccan Army which did so. The Moroccans provided soldiers in various wars, but in the case of World War II they were attached to the French Army. The French organized the Moroccans into a unit of 200 soldiers called a “ Goum .” Combining three or four Goums made up a “Tabor.” A number of Tabors were then combined into Groups. The first Allies to step foot in Germany were Moroccans. The 1 st , 3 rd and 4 th Groups of Moroccans had previously been used in Allied operations in Italy, where they had built a well-deserved reputation as war criminals. However, it was the French General, Alphonse Pierre Juin, a highly skilled and decorated commander, who in an apparent attempt to motivate his troops, said that there would be no consequences for any actions after their Italian victory.

General Alphonse Pierre Juin

the war

The atrocities were on a monumental scale and in fact fifteen Moroccans were executed by firing squad, often without a trial, for rape, murder and pillaging. Another 54 were sentenced to hard labor for their actions. While the vast majority of the acts were against women, many were committed against children as young as 11 years old, as well as some men and even priests. The French were previously aware of their proclivities and attempted to manage the problem by importing Moroccan women as “camp followers” to service the troops. The Italians calculated that more than 7,000 Italian women were raped by the Moroccans. In one town 700 women, from a population of 2,500 were raped in May 1944—some so violently that they died of their injuries. It was estimated that in total, more than 800 men were murdered in attempting to protect the women from the marauders. The Italians coined a new word for these atrocities, “Marocchinate,” meaning “Moroccan deeds”.

Five Brothers and a War

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