Things you should know about Franco.

Book Review. ^ | 7/7/02 | Unknown

[scouse]

We have been taught that General Franco was a friend of Adolf Hitler and consequently an anti-Semite. Our teacher: The world's most successful Defamation League, Soviet Russia's Comintern (Communist International). Why? Because General Franco, by winning the Spanish Civil War expelled the Soviet presence in Spain and thwarted Russia's hopes to make Spain another Iron Curtain country.

So, Ignoring the fact that Franco's ancestors were Marranos, Spanish Jews who converted to Christianity during the Middle Ages under threat of death or persecution, here is testimony from non-interested parties:

FRANCISCO FRANCO, BENEFACTOR OF THE JEWS: However general history may judge him, in Jewish history, he shall certainly occupy a special place... Jews should honor and bless the memory of this great benefactor of the Jewish people...who neither sought nor reaped any benefit from what he did.

--From a four page obituary in The American Sephardi Journal of the Sephardic Studies Program of Yeshiva University, volume IX, 1978.

James Michener in Iberia, 1968, page 547: "...Generalissimo Franco is highly regarded by Jews; during the worst days of World War II, when pressures from Hitler were at their heaviest, Franco refused to issue anti-Jewish edicts and instead provided a sanctuary, never violated, for Jews who managed to make it to Spain. Many thousands of Jews owe their lives to Franco, and this is not forgotten."

In Resolutions of the War Emergency Conference of the World Jewish Congress, Atlantic City, New Jersey, November 26-30, 1944, page 15: "The War Emergency Conference extends its gratitude to the Holy See and to the Governments of Sweden, Switzerland, and Spain... for the protection they offered under difficult conditions to the persecuted Jews of Hungary..."

In the Congressional Record of January 24, 1950, Rep. Abraham Multer quotes a spokesman for the Joint Distribution Committee: "During the height of Hitler's blood baths, upwards of 60,000 Jews had been saved by the generosity of Spanish authorities."

Newsweek, March 2, 1970: "...a respected U.S. rabbi has come forward with surprising evidence that tens of thousands of Jews were saved from Nazi ovens by the personal intervention of an unlikely protector. Spain's Generalissimo Franco, in so many other respects a wartime collaborator of Adolf Hitler. "I have absolute proof that Franco saved more than 60,000 Jews during World War II," says Rabbi Chaim Lipscitz of Brooklyn's Torah Vodaath and Mesitva rabbinical seminary.

[livius]

Yes, the modern liberal take on the Spanish Civil War is revolting. Before Franco's victory, the Communists and anarchists in Spain has managed to kill between 10,000 and 13,000 priests, nuns and lay activists - simply for being Catholic. Under the Communist occupation of Madrid, anyone who was perceived as conservative could expect to be "paseado" (literally, taken for a walk - and shot). Conservative or even simply non-Communist writers and journalists often got special treatment. After a summary "trial," they were shot to death on the cover of the swimming pool at the beautiful Circulo de Bellas Artes building in downtown Madrid.

But enough of all that. As for Franco's rescuing of numerous Jews, this is well documented. The ADL has its own liberal axe to grind and can afford to be casual about the truth. Franco believed that Jews, as the people of Jesus Christ, deserved special protection. If I recall correctly, Spain took in more refuge Jews than did the United States.

BTW, I am certainly not defending everything that Franco did. Many writers agree that his severity in the years immediately following the war was necessary, because the Communists would simply have popped right up again if not strictly repressed. After all, they had been a well-known problem in Spain for many years before the Civil War, and were responsible for assassinations and the undermining of the democractic process. But Franco was resented eventually for not loosening his grip after the return of Communist activity ceased to be as much of a danger.

[jackbill]

The Communist Party sure did a number on old Franco.

Perhaps that should read: The New York Times and the rest of the liberal U.S. media sure did a number on old Franco. And they made the Communist Lincoln Brigade look like a bunch of heroes.

[Consort]

[BluH2o]

Back in the mid-sixties I was flying out of Barcelona, Spain to Nice, France. On the way to the airport in Barcelona I was struck with the number of police and military present. Arriving at the airport I found out Franco was departing after a visit to Barcelona. Sure enough, Franco could be seen boarding a Spanish military aircraft, far out on the tarmac, from my vantage point on the concourse. This is striking in one sense, in my entire life I've never seen a U.S. president, other than on TV. I might also add, for what it's worth, I've seen the Queen of England on two different occasions ... but never a President. How many FReepers out there in cyber-space can make a similar claim?

[scouse]

"It is fashionable at the present time to dwell on the vices of General Franco and I am glad therefore to place on record this testimony to the duplicity of his dealings with Hitler... I shall presently record even greater services which... General Franco rendered to the Allied cause."
-- Winston Churchill, writing in The Second World War, Volume II.

[LarryLied]

read the chapter on Spain in The Black Book of Communism

I was so impressed by the reviews of that book I ordered a copy from Amazon as soon as it came out and sent it to a freeper friend.

And never bought a copy for myself. I must read it.

Checked the Simon Wiesenthal Center. Not a mention there of Franco saving any Jews at all. 100% negative review of him.

[First_Salute]

A very accurate assessment; and thank you.

[saradippity]

The Communist Party sure did a number on old Franco

Which could have never been accomplished without their able abettors in the United States press.Thanks for the thread.

[sheik yerbouty]

He was never the ogre that the lefties claim.

[Rodney King]

The man, like Pinochet, had some flaws. However, Franco saved Europe and Pinochet saved South America with iron-will and a belief in God and Freedom.

The few mistakes that they made pale in comparison the the rampant torture and murder practiced by their opposition.

[SJackson]

Always nice to hear from the white supremacist corner Lar. My interest in the ADLs opinion on Franco is about the same as my interest in your opinion on many things. Bye

[xvb]

Are you on the ADL payroll? You give them so much free publicity. o-;

[LarryLied]

Socialists already know about the ADL. Believe it or not,there are Americans who are unaware of the ADL's political agenda. There are even freepers who think the ADL is "no different than Catholic League."

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