In-Between Categories 41 Dodecanese Islands, from which most Greeks arrived in the canal region, were under the auspices of the Ottoman Empire until the ItaloTurkish War in 1911. In 1912, Italy occupied the islands (except Kastellorizo, which passed into Italian control in 1921) until the end of World War II. The fascist Italian regime officially annexed the archipelago in 1923, under the Treaty of Lausanne. When the Italians left, the Dodecanese fell under German and British occupation until it became part of the Greek nation-state in 1947.22 As part of its attempts to restore its past glory as a Mediterranean empire and show that the islands’ inhabitants were not under colonial rule, Italy’s fascist regime created the Italian Aegean citizenship for those Dodecanese islanders who resided in the archipelago at the time of its official annexation in 1923. In practice, the Cittadinanza Egea Italiana was far from being actual citizenship. Dodecanese persons did not have the right to vote and were not considered legal Italian citizens. Yet they could not claim Greek nationality either, as the fascist regime prevented them for doing so. Moreover, the archipelago’s residents were also subject to the Italian fascist discourse. Indeed, if they collaborated with the fascist regime by expressing loyalty and serving in its military army, they could become full Italian citizens.23 Thus, those Dodecanese Greeks who arrived in Egypt at the time of the Italian occupation were Italian Aegean subjects. The Italian passport of Themis Cathopouli is an example (see fig. 1, 2, 3). Themis, originally from the Dodecanese island of Kalymnos—Provincia di Egea, as the passport notes—held Italian papers while living in Egypt. Themis likely resided in Suez (or in nearby canal cities), as the city’s Italian consulate issued her visas for traveling. Her frequent movement between Kalymnos and Suez was consistent between 1934 and 1937, showing the strong connections between the place of origin and that of arrival. Besides the personal and traveling information included on her passport, the phrase “Imperatore d’Etiopia” was added in pen under the official signature of the King of Italy (fig. 2), an intentional nod to fascist Italy’s goals of colonial expansion in Africa. Indeed, fascist Italy was trying to revive its imperial presence in the Eastern Mediterranean through the Dodecanese Islands, and in Africa through its colonies in Ethiopia and Libya. Italy’s invasion of Ethiopia, together with its fascist propaganda and activities within Egypt, alarmed Egyptian nationalists, such as members of the Wafd Party, who were concerned that Egypt could become the epicenter of an Anglo-Italian war.24 Until 1940, holding Italian papers did not bring any legal issues for those archipelago Greeks. However, Italy’s involvement in World