Interesting. Franco was a Fascist, whose mother was Jewish.
Which way do I go, which way do I go...
I think it was his grandfather, and in Spain there is a difference between jews and conversos, which is what grandpa was. Look deep enough in nearly any Spanish family and you find conversos lurking. Both sides of his family were Catholic, and he was pretty hard core about it himself. If you visit his tomb, you get a real feel for that aspect of his character.
Franco was a complex character, much deeper than the simple carciature the PC revisionists make him out to be. He was a dictator who killed a lot of people, and accepted Fascist help during his country’s civil war. Yet, contrary to popular perception, he wasn’t really Hitler’s little toady. Spain adopted a policy of neutrality in WWII, and the famous “Blue Division” of Spanish volunteers was very strict about fighting the Soviets and only the Soviets (as payback for the Soviets helping the Socialist side during the Spanish Civil War).
Perhaps one of the most little-known facts about Franco is his protection of the Jews. Jews crossing the border to escape from Vichy France were given sanctuary, and Spain granted Spanish citizenship to thousands of Sephardic Jews all over Europe and allowed them to come to Spain. Franco even went so far as to secure the release of 400 Spanish Jews who had already been deported to Bergen-Belsen concentration camp.
Franco certainly was no saint, nor was he a freedom fighter, but he did enough good that the Jewish community, to this day, considers him a righteous Gentile.
Franco was a Nationalist who dragged Spain kicking and screaming into the modern world.
Here's what Wikipedia has to say on this topic:
...both paternal and maternal grandfathers came directly from conversos, jews that converted in order to remain in the Iberian kingdoms or have access to posts in the Administration. And usually they carried a peculiar zeal in their new religion,in order to be confirmed and accepted by the christian community, preventing questioning (or Inquisition) about their identity, veracity of faith.
This post seems badly edited, so it may or may not be accurate. Some of you on this thread may know where to find the facts and edit the open-source posting on Wikipedia.