I HAVE made a careful study of the Spanish horrors, and have accepted none but well-documented evidence. The Ronda story is from a book by Arthur Bryant. I could have found several equally dreadful examples by Spanish eye-witnesses, but some of them I did not care to keep on my shelves. The estimate of 300,000 victims is official; some have put the number much higher. Krivitsky's "I Was Stalin's Agent" is most illuminating; for example, p. 120: "The Ogpu had done a brilliant piece of work. In Dec. 1936 the terror was sweeping Madrid, Barcelona, and Valencia. The Ogpu . . . . carried out assassinations and kidnappings. . . . The Soviet Union had a grip on Loyalist Spain, as if it were already a Soviet possession." This book may be enough for my friend Mr. Wells, who is a very honest man.

Affiliations

1. Brightwell Manor, Wallingford, Berks.

   • W. R. INGE

To obtain permission to re-use content from this article visit RightsLink.

Publication history

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1038/145152b0

By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.