Camp Lukacs

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Camp Lukacs was an internment camp of the International Brigades for brigadists during the Spanish Civil War . The internment camp was located in Albacete , the headquarters of the International Brigades.

history

After the military coup on July 17, 1936, international militiamen flocked to Spain to volunteer against the coup military. After the decision of the Spanish government, international units, the International Brigades, were set up to reorganize the militia units into the “Spanish People's Army” from October 9, 1936. The international brigadists soon became a problem for the Spanish People's Army, largely due to the fact that some of them wanted to return to their home countries.

The general commissioner of the brigades, the Italian Luigi Longo (Gallo) said that if brigadists returned to their home countries, the international brigades would run out of volunteers. At a meeting of the commissioners in April 1937, Gallo was reaffirmed that the international brigades had lost their fighting power due to the return of brigadists to their home countries. To avoid this, a number of measures were decided:

The first measure was the decision to confiscate the brigadists' passports. In addition, the government of the Spanish Republic issued a decree in September 1938, by which the international brigadists were subject to the military penal laws of the Spanish People's Army. The attempt by brigadists to return to their home countries was thus officially declared deserted. From this time on it was also possible to impose the death penalty in the case of desertion or refusal to obey . This explains why hundreds of brigadists tried to flee to the Mediterranean ports in order to leave Spain as stowaways. Brigadists also tried to obtain asylum in embassies and consulates or travel documents in their embassies and consulates for departure. For this reason, the American consulate in Barcelona, ​​for example, was guarded by Republican security forces.

The arrested brigadists were arrested and sentenced at Camp Lukacs, which was 16 kilometers from Albacete , the headquarters of the International Brigades.

In his book The Spanish Civil War , author Antony Beevor reports that no fewer than 4,000 men were interned at Camp Lukacs between August 1 and November 1. In addition, the historian Hugh Thomas reports that deserters were also liquidated at Camp Lukacs. With the opening of Russian archives after 1990, human rights violations on the part of the republican also become apparent.

Due to the Aragon offensive , the management of the International Brigades decided to move the administrative base of the International Brigades from Albacete to Barcelona , in the Horta district , in April 1938 . In addition, a new brigade prison was built in the castle of Castelldefels . The brigade prison was probably operated from the beginning of April 1938 until January 22, 1939, two days before the Franco army took Barcelona .

Documented liquidation of brigadists

The case of Brigadist Bernard Abramofsky, an American in the Lincoln Battalion , who deserted several times is well documented. On the orders of a lieutenant, Abramofsky was liquidated after the third desertion. One of his companions fared no better. During his detention in the Castelldefels Brigade Prison, Brigadist Albert Wallach was liquidated in the prison yard after he was tortured. Another American in the Lincoln Battalion, Paul White, deserted to France in mid-1938. However, he felt remorse, so he returned to the Lincoln Battalion. Upon his return, White was liquidated. The Finnish brigadists of the XV died in the same fate. International Brigade Oscar Pauvo, Enrich Niembrer and Lindeolm Zurich, who were executed on April 20, 1938 on a beach in Tarragona because of cowardice .

Furthermore, the British Allen Kemp was in Teruel on behalf of the commander of the XV. Vladimir Copic International Brigade , liquidated as a result of the British Council protest despite previous orders . According to another report from the Ávila Military Archives, Lieutenant Zimbaluek of the XIV International Brigade liquidated five deserters who had fled to Puerto de Navacerradain during the Segovia relief offensive (Segovia Offensive) in 1937 . An incident during the Battle of Brunete , in which the commander of the XIII. International brigade warriors shot a soldier for refusing to give an order to attack, whereupon 300 brigadists of his units decided to move armed to Madrid .

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Antony Beevor : The Spanish Civil War , 2nd edition, ISBN 978-3-442-15492-0 , page 364
  2. ^ Hugh Thomas : The Spanish Civil War , Verlag Ullstein, 1967, page 304ff
  3. ^ Andrew Roberts: A revelatory account of the Spanish Civil war. In: telegraph.co.uk , June 11, 2006, accessed October 22, 2014.
  4. ↑ Manuel González Moreno-Navarro: Las brigadas internacionales (Guerra Civil Española 1936–1939) , Publicaciones Universitarias SA, Barcelona, ​​2009, Catalunya section
  5. ↑ Cecil Eby: Between the bullet and the lie. American Volunteers in the Spanish Civil War , Holt, Rinehart and Winston New York, 1969
  6. ↑ Pedro Corral: Pasaporte para el olvido , www.abc.es, Madrid, October 6, 2008

literature