Ras Desta Damtew was an Ethiopian army commander and a son-in-law of Emperor Haile Selassie. He was seized by an Italian soldier in 1937 and murdered.
The asking price for his medal was € 45,000. As no one wanted to pay this, the auctioneer withdrew the medal.
Tefera Ghedamu on Meet EBC, the Ethiopian TV station, discusses this with two of Ras Desta Damtew’s grandchildren, Laly and Kokeb Kassa.
Both of them want the medal to go to Ethiopia’s National Museum in Addis Ababa.
