Paracuellos massacre
| Paracuellos Massacres | |
|---|---|
| Location | Paracuellos del Jarama, Torrejón de Ardoz, Spain |
| Date | November–December 1936 |
| Target | Right-wing civilians and military |
|
Attack type
|
Mass execution |
| Deaths | Highest currently cited: 4,021, minimum: 1,000, |
| Perpetrator | Republican troops and militiamen |
The Paracuellos massacres (Spanish: Matanzas de Paracuellos) were a series of mass killings of civilians and soldiers by the Republican faction of the Spanish Civil War. It took place before and during the Battle for Madrid during the early stages of the war. The death toll remains the subject of debate and controversy.
About 5000 of political prisoners and military personnel had been incarcerated in Madrid since before the start of the war, in July 1936. Many of them had been captured during the failed rising of the Montaña barracks, in western Madrid. The prisoners came under the control of the new Junta de Defensa de Madrid (Committee for the Defence of Madrid), an emergency committee left in charge of the city on November 7, after the Republican government, led by Francisco Largo Caballero evacuated Madrid, for its temporary capital, Valencia.
Many of the prisoners were taken out of prison in so-called sacas (extractions), 33 in total, between November 7 and December 4, as the Nationalists launched their assault on the Madrid. The Republicans feared the presence of so many potentially-hostile prisoners in their rear during the battle. The extractions were ordered in writing by the Republican authorities in Madrid, often in documents signed by Segundo Serrano Poncela, Deputy for Public Order, working directly under the supervision of the young Communist politician Santiago Carrillo. However, the responsibility of Carrillo in the massacre is much debated.
According to historian Javier Cervera, the sacas that were carried out to move prisoners to other locations did not result in executions, and the prisoners were relocated, farther from the front, to Alcalá de Henares. At Paracuellos, however, a massacre resulted. According to British historian, Antony Beevor, the order to kill the prisoners most likely came from the Spanish Communist José Cazorla Maure, or, more indirectly, from the Soviet advisor Mikhail Koltsov.
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