[Gocamino] Matajudios????

[Marcus Wilder]

The victims of mass killings varied with the territory.  That was a  
terrible war between people of violent passions.

In one of Hemingway's books, Pilar describes how Communists threw four  
hundred Rightist citizens of Ronda off a cliff.  That actually happened.

More recently, search for mass graves of Franco victims was abandoned  
when it was pointed out half of the mass graves were filled with  
victims of the Communists.

A German Communist journalist wrote with astonishment of a  
veterinarian still alive in a Communist village.  The German  
photographed the veterinarian to prove he had seen him.  In Communist  
villages, everyone who knew anything or had anything was executed.

SPAIN BETRAYED, The Soviet Union in the Spanish Civil War, from Yale  
University Press, presents translations of Soviet documents and  
explains the place of each in historical context.

It was a complicated war....

On May 7, 2009, at 10:43 AM, Patricia Barboni wrote:

> Thanks to all who contributed on this subject....really fascinating  
> (loved
> Grant's diatribe)and for all the book recommendations... Here's some  
> more on
> the mata subject.
>
> On one my visits to the Basque country in recent years, a most  
> interesting
> event occurred.  I was staying with friends in a small 500+-yr old  
> village,
> pop. less than 40. (won't name it to protect the privacy of the  
> residents).
> It is one of those small peaceful, idyllic villages where a  
> traveling priest
> visits only once a month or so. The village church is equipped with  
> the "de
> rigueur" fronton using one of its outside walls and a small, unkept
> graveyard with ancient headstones, overgrown with moss and other  
> greenery.
> The church had a bell tower that was in dire need of renovation,  
> since none
> had been done for the past 200 yrs.  Soon after the workmen began  
> their
> tasks there was much commotion....the workmen discovered a small  
> locked room
> in the tower, which they needed to access to perform their work.  Upon
> opening, they discovered human remains, of what was estimated to be
> approximately 30 poor souls. The local thought was that these were  
> Navarrans
> who were executed by Franco's soldiers during the civil war.   
> Apparently
> sometimes a local priest would "negotiate" for the preservation of his
> church by becoming party to obscuring the evidence.
>
> There was a book my friends shared with me (the title escapes me)  
> which was
> in Spanish, about 3-4 inches thick, written in the '80s.  It was a
> compilation of first-person accounts from survivors and children of  
> the
> deceased, including photos, regarding thousands of Navarrans who  
> perished
> under Franco...how they were tortured and executed.  The book was  
> written so
> that the lost would not be forgotten.  I won't go into the gory  
> details, but
> my tears were streaming as I read of the committed atrocities.
>
> In noticing the reaction of the village residents to the bell tower
> discovery, it would seem there are residual fears. The guardia civil  
> came to
> the village to investigate. There was no group discussion among the
> villagers, just quiet, hushed comments here and there. A softer  
> "official"
> theory was proposed by the investigators...that these were remains  
> that were
> dug up during past renovations to the graveyard and just never re- 
> interred.
> I don't think the locals "bought" that one...as the remains were  
> more recent
> than the last renovations.  My friends and I had our own candlelight
> memorial for those who were lost.
>
> Personally, I prefer to think of the names "Matamoros" and  
> "Matajudios" as
> something of an homage to the perished ones....as a reminder of man's
> inhumanity to man...lest we forget...and perhaps will encourage us  
> all to be
> less judgmental, more forgiving, more loving.
>
> Besos to all,
> Patricia in California
>
>
>
>
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