The Thirteen Roses Tragedy in Madrid
The Thirteen Roses Tragedy in Madrid
The bitter story of thirteen women who were tortured and executed by the nationalist regime. The public remembers them with the nickname "La Treces Rosas" aka the Thirteen Roses.
“RAPIDO, rapido!” a warden officer shouted an order that broke the silence of the night, August 5, 1939. Another line of wardens was also on alert with their rifles when 13 women one by one obeyed the order to climb into the back of a military truck in front of the Ventas Prison yard in the Ciudad Lineal District, the city of Madrid .
The 13 female political prisoners (tapol) are sure that death is about to come. Even so, fear is no longer overshadowing. Precisely when the truck started moving, one of them hummed a song of encouragement which his colleagues followed.
“ Que esté en guardia, que esté en guardia, el burgués insaciable y cruel.
Joven guardia, joven guardia, no le des paz ni cuartel.
¡Paz ni cuartel!”
The chant is the hymn of the left group, Juventud Socialista Unificada (JSU) or United Socialist Youth, entitled "La Joven Guardia". The 13 political prisoners sung it as a farewell speech to the other political prisoners who are still languishing in Ventas Prison.
They had just stopped singing when the truck stopped and the warden ordered them to get down. The rest were lined up against the walls of the Cementerio del Este (now Cementerio de la Almuneda). They held hands when they were faced with two lines of firing squad.
Such is the final act of the drama film Las 13 Rosas (2007) directed by filmmaker Emilio Martínez Lázaro. The film, adapted from the book Trece Rosas Rojas by journalist Carlos Fonseca, depicts the bitter fate of 13 women who became victims of the right-wing dictator Francisco Franco's regime shortly after the end of the Spanish Civil War (17 July 1936-1 April 1939).
Every August 5, the Fundácion Treces Rosas social foundation routinely holds a memorial in honor of the 13 female martyrs on the wall of the cemetery, where the names of the 13 martyrs are enshrined through a plaque. Until now, the public remembers the 13 martyrs with the nickname "Las Treces Rosas" aka the Thirteen Roses. The "rose" metaphor, said Kajsa C. Larson in her dissertation entitled Remembering the Thirteen Roses: Thinking between History and Memory , refers to metonymic examples of Franco's brutality towards activists who struggle to uphold democracy.
“In the 21st century, the term 'rose' refers to female martyrs in the context of the Spanish Civil War. Like the story of 'La Rosa de Salamanca' or 'Las Tres Rosas Leonesas' before. After Franco's death (20 November) 1975, 'Thirteen Roses' became one of the buzzwords for communicating to the public an extreme example of post-war horrors,” Larson wrote.
What and Who are the Thirteen Roses?
The city of Madrid was not immediately sheltered by peace, even though Franco and his nationalist troops were defeated in the war. Three months after the war, tension, terror and fear were widespread in the Spanish capital.
“Republican and leftist leaders had already fled Spain, leaving the remnants of their organizations in the hands of insignificant activists and militias. José Pena, secretary general of the JSU provincial committee, was also arrested at the end of July. Unable to bear the torture, Pena gave up and gave the names of many leftist activists he knew were still hiding in the city of Madrid," said Fonseca.
A wave of raids and arrests began in May-August 1939 as Franco's steps to rid the capital of the remnants of his political opponents. He entrusted this step to General Eugenio Espinosa de los Monteros, military governor of the city of Madrid cum Commander of the 1st Corps of the Army. Many of those political prisoners, including 13 roses, were later executed in Franco's "Saca de Agosto" campaign.The 13 Roses are part of 43 young leftists who were accused of being subversive because they had the potential to rebel against the Franco nationalist government. Many of these youths are still underage because before 1943, the adult category in Spain started at the age of 23.
More than half of the 13 Mawar members themselves are underage. They are Luisa Rodríguez de la Fuente (18 years), Virtudes González García (18), Victoria Muñoz García (19), Julia Conesa Conesa (19), Adelina García Casillas (19), Dionisia Manzanero Salas (20), Elena Gil Olaya (20), Ana López Gallego (21), Martina Barroso García (22), Joaquina López Laffite (23), Carmen Barrero Aguado (24), Pilar Bueno Ibáñez (27), and Blanca Brissac Vázquez (29).
But not all of the 13 women are JSU or Partido Comunista de España (PCE) activists. The most senior Blanca Brissac Vázquez, for example. She was arrested with her husband, Enrique García Mazas, on 24 May 1939 and placed in a separate prison.
“Blanca is a figure who in fact is not a political figure or an active activist. Blanca was an innocent woman, a mother who loved her son, a dutiful wife and a devout Catholic," continued Larson.
The only indication of the couple's association with leftists is the good friendship between musician Enrique García and Juan Canepa, an anti-Franco communist militant.
Blanca and her husband are just a devout Catholic couple. Both of them had even supported right-wing groups in the 1936 Spanish elections or two months before the war broke out.
“But that (Mazas-Canepa) friendship had a big impact on them. Then an acquaintance of Blanca's, Manuela de la Hera, was annoyed at giving wrong information about Blanca to the police because it was said that Blanca was involved in a plot that planned to kill Franco. These accusations actually existed only in the complainant's imagination,” said Fonseca.
Meanwhile, when Carmen Barrero Aguado was arrested on May 16, 1939, she was no longer an active PCE cadre. He was arrested while working as a tailor, a job he chose after leaving PCE because he had to become the backbone of his family after his father's death.
Similar is not the case with Julia Conesa who was arrested (mid-May 1939) while working as a tailor. He had become a JSU cadre in 1937 but then left because he had to support his family. Before becoming a tailor, Julia had worked as a bus conductor.
He was arrested because his girlfriend's friends found out that Julia had been a member of JSU. Apart from the three names above, the remaining 10 were JSU and PCE militant activists when they were picked up and taken to the Ventas Prison which specifically accommodates women political prisoners.
After weeks of torture in Ventas Prison, they began appearing at the Consejo Permanente de Guerra trial on August 3 along with 55 male political prisoners. They were charged with aiding the rebellion, conspiring and plotting to kill Franco. They were forced to admit it, until a day later they were sentenced to death.
Until the day of their execution on August 5, none of the 13 Roses were allowed to see their relatives or families. The only way to convey the last words is through a letter left in their cell before being transported to the execution site.
"My name will not be erased in history," wrote Julia in a letter addressed to her mother.
Meanwhile, in her last letter to her 11-year-old son, Enrique, Blanca wrote: “My dear son, I thought of you at the last moment. I'm sorry mom if I ever made you angry. Remember us as respected parents. Mother will die with her head held high. Be an example to your Papa, a hard worker and able to endure patiently. Don't forget the memory of your parents. Go to Holy Communion, prepared, with the firm faith that Mother taught you. My dear son, see you later. My love will remain eternal. Blanca."
