Militia unit Rovira

The militia unit Rovira was a POUM militia unit in the Spanish Civil War , in which mainly Germans or German-speaking militiamen fought. The Rovira militia unit fought as the largest foreign unit within the POUM-Columna Lenin.

history

Foreign militia units

At the beginning of the Spanish Civil War , various international militia units emerged in which Germans also fought. The militia units were organized and led by the parties of the Frente Popular ( PCE , POUM ) and the Spanish trade unions ( CNT , UGT ). In addition to the Thälmann group and the CNT militia units , Germans also fought in POUM militia units, such as the Rovira militia unit. The Rovira militia unit ( Bataillon de choque Rovira ) was named after the POUM commander Josep Rovira . It was part of the POUM-Columna Lenin , the later 29th Division.

POUM militia units

The first foreign POUM militia group was formed in September 1936. The smallest POUM militia unit was the group of ten, which was led by an eleventh group leader appointed by the POUM party. The first group, Grupo International , was commanded by an Italian. The POUM militia unit consisted of 50 men, including 21 Italians, 17 French, two Germans and other volunteers from six other countries. In August, the POUM militia unit played a key role in the capture of the village of Lecineña near Saragossa in Aragon . According to Walter Schwarz , a KPO functionary, a small group of German volunteers took part in the conquest of the village.

Due to the influx of further international volunteers, the Grupo International formed the Centuria Extranjero I and the Centuria Extranjero II by autumn 1936 . The Centuria Extranjero I was commanded by a Pole and the Centuria Extranjero II by Georges Kopp , a Belgian engineer. In January 1937 the formation of further Centuria, the POUM-Centuria Francesca and the POUM-Centuria Ingelesa, in which the English writer George Orwell also fought.

POUM militia units Rovira

The largest foreign militia unit within the POUM-Columna Lenin became the militia unit Rovira. According to Peter Blachstein , a Spanish fighter, the manpower of the Battalion de choque Rovira was 300-400 at the beginning of 1937, two thirds of whom were foreigners. According to the author George Orwell , the battalion consisted largely of Germans or German-speaking militiamen. They were primarily members of the KPO and SAP . A company of the battalion, which consisted of four divisions (Sección) with 36 men each, was commanded by the former German Foreign Legionnaire Hans Reiter . According to a report by Andreu Castells the company in struggles for was posted on March 17, 1937 Psychiatric Hospital of Huesca completely wiped out. During the storm on the hill on which the clinic was located, the SAP functionary Herbert Wolf also fell .

Huesca offensive

Due to the situation in northern Spain, the central government decided to attack Huesca in addition to the offensive in Segovia to relieve the northern front . The Huesca offensive began on June 12, 1937 under the high command of Máté Zalka (General Lukacz), from the XII. International Brigade with the Dąbrowski Battalion , Garibaldi Battalion , ... The offensive was carried out in an area where there were many anarchist units and the 29th Division of the POUM. The 29th Division also included the British company, whose leader George Kopp had previously been arrested for espionage. Around 10,000 Republicans fell in the Huesca offensive, with the losses among the anarchists and POUM members being very high.

Dissolution of the POUM militia units

The POUM militias were disbanded in July 1937 after internal power struggles and civil war-like clashes in Barcelona . Many of the POUM officers and foreigners close to the POUM were arrested if they could not escape or hide. The arrest of foreigners mostly took place when they came to Barcelona on leave unarmed . Colonel Rovira, the commander of the Rovira unit, was summoned to Army Headquarters and arrested, as was POUM leader Andreu Nin . The arrested POUM leaders were turned over to NKVD agents and taken to secret prisons and tortured. Most of the POUM militia was but after returning from lengthy battles of the of Soviet - Communist surrounded commanded troops and disarmed. The foreign militiamen, who were unencumbered by the Soviet Communists, were assigned to the International Brigades . Due to his completely apolitical character, the German POUM commander Hans Reiter was also assigned to the International Brigades. He is repeatedly listed in the files of the International Brigades, once as a major of the 97th Brigade Mixta, and another time without further details.

literature

• Patrik von zur Mühlen: Spain was your hope (Left in the Spanish Civil War 1936–1939) , Research Institute of the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, Bonn, Verlag Neue Gesellschaft GmbH, 1983, ISBN 3-87831-375-6 , from page 61

Web links

• Land and Freedom [1] youtube, British feature film by Ken Loach (1995), accessed July 27, 2012

Individual evidence

1. ^ Antony Beevor, The Spanish Civil War, ISBN 978-3-442-15492-0 , 2nd edition, page 352
2. ^ Antony Beevor, The Spanish Civil War, ISBN 978-3-442-15492-0 , 2nd edition, page 347