5. Life in a hell hole

AT THE beginning of the Revolution, the princesses and others from the Imperial Court were treated with a hands-off approach; many fearing the government.
However, as the years started to mesh with the next year, the Royal Family members were, if not forgotten, ignored by most Ethiopians. The only ones who seemed to maintain a vigil concerning them was their constant guards.

Stephen Mengesha: There were female guards and they would take shifts and there were frequent changes so they didn become too familiar with the prisoners. I must say there was quite a bit of sympathy from the jail guards so they weren't mistreated.

The Derg's focus had basically shifted off the Emperor and his family and centered on their hunt for opponents to their rule; with many swallowed to death by the Revolution.
"Eventually, the royals became heroes," emphasized Aida Desta's son.
As the years went by, the princesses were able to go to the prison chapel and after about a dozen years' confinemen, they were able to interact with the other inmates; one of them used her skills in the kindergarten. The others passed the time by doing handiwork.
It was, indeed, a dramatic fall from grace.
Most were highly educated, with Stephen Mengesha's mother a graduate from the prestigious Cambridge University in history and two were Oxford graduates.

Mengesha: All my aunts were educated and Princess Sara Gizaw was educated as a nurse in Scotland. Princess Zuriash was a philanthropist and she had a school for the blind. That's another thing, they were not the type of people sitting at home, but they were always active. They were not the glamor type of princesses, but had a sense of duty.
Editor Corbett: They were loved within the prison and outside, weren't they?
Mengesha: Yes. They would look after the children in the prison and people would sometimes send them presents, like chocolates. So there is a human side and they had to learn to adjust. Nobody would have been able to survive for 14 years without adapting to the conditions.
Corbett: What happened to the young male members of the Royal Family?
Mengesha: The boys stayed in prison at the beginning were part of the old guard, but then the prison began to fill up with younger revolutionaries, who were thrown in by the government, so radical Marxists were being thrown in prison with the young princes, who had never been exposed to the Marxist government. So the boys are to be commended for surviving even in the prison compound. The prisoners that were inside were totally opposed to the type of government in the past and the royalty, in general.