8   SPAIN TALKS

three of these were killed by Fascists some time before the revolt 
began. One should mention also the murderous attack on the 
vice-president of the Cortes, and many others. It is claimed by 
the Fascists that the government forces murdered Calvo Sotelo, 
a Fascist gangster, and that this shows our lack of order. Actually 
this gangster himself was responsible for many murders and at 
last he killed an officer of the guard, Castillo, whose men replied 
by killing Sotelo. The government arrested the murderers and 
they were awaiting trial when the Fascist revolt broke out.

LA PASSIONARIA: If the enemies of the Republic were able 
to foment this revolt, it is just because we were too lenient towards 
them. They were left in prominent posts and they used these against 
the people. Thus they were able to assassinate thousands 
of disarmed workers.

LARA: The terror and disorder was begun by the Fascist rebels. 
At times the forces of the government in the fighting and in re-
action to the terror used against them have also been ruthless. 
But it is not true that there was terror in Madrid.

SICHES: Legal procedure is very slow in Spain and could not 
possibly handle all the cases produced by the present situation. 
So there have been created new People's Tribunals, with three 
judges and a normal jury. They are ordinary courts of justice.*

Foreign Fascists and Rebels

DR. WARD: What help have the rebels had from abroad?

COLLECTIVE ANSWER: In spite of the fact that the rebels 
seized the best arms and armories, the government would have 
found it relatively easy to deal with them had it not been for 
the foreign help they got from Italy, Germany and Portugal. 
Documents found in Barcelona show clearly the connection with 
German Nazis long before the revolt. That planes from Italy

*The statement that the terror was begun by the Fascists is borne out by numerous 
statements in the British press. The Manchester Guardian, August 13, reports from 
southern Spain that shootings of strikers and loyal officers are taking place at La Linea, 
while peasants near Seville are shot in batches if they oppose the invaders. It adds: "At 
Malaga the government for the first three weeks executed nobody, but finally decided to 
execute rebel officers as traitors and did so to the number of 35.... " Further it stated 
that "resentment at attack on their liberties, the use of Moorish troops by the other side, 
the many stories of shooting of prisoners by the Fascists have produced blind hatred in 
the population.... 

Similarly The London Times, August 24, says: "In Navarre in practically every 
village the three or four leading republicans are shot." 

In The Manchester Guardian, August 15, a statement by Los Rios says that 2,000 
people were shot in Cordoba and 1,800 in Saragossa.

The London Times, thus describes the taking by the Fascists of Badajos where from 
1,500 to 2,000 prisoner were shot down: "Prisoners were taken in batches to the mili-
tary headquarters, there to be placed against a wall and shot. The pavement ran with 
the blood of victims.... Next day the mass executions continued in Toros Square. 
Hundreds of people sought refuge in the cathedral, among them two militiamen were 
found, and shot on the steps of the altar.... In the Calle San Juan an eye-witness 
counted 300 bodies."