Evening star., 1936-08-19
RED Terror RIFE
IN SPANISH TOWNS
Shooting of 500 Imprisoned
in Gijon Church Follows
Bombardment.
BY HAROLD CARDCZO.

~ AAhAkOAO ShnDOLOs
Correspondent Of the London Daily Mall.
BY radio to The Star.
HENDAYE, France, August 18
(N.AN.A.)-San Sebastian, Irun, Bill
bao and Gijon-towns still held by
the government forces-have been the
scene Of unspeakable horror during
the past few days. Communists and
anarchists. in rage at approaching de-
feat-even their ardent supporters now
admit the fall of these coast towns
cannot long be delayed-have begun Q
wholesale massacre Of hostages, men,
women and children, seized from
among their political opponents.
. When the cruiser Almirante Ger
vera began to lombard Gijon. the de-
tenders took 500 men, women and
children, who were prisoners in the
Church of the Sacred Heart, and shot
them. I was given description Of
this massacre by Fraulein Elfrida
Brand. German girl who was in the
town and Is now on her way home
She told me:
The popular front militia began by
attacking insurgent troops in the Sim
ancas and Zapadores barracks. Shells
and machine gun bullets swept the
streets and we we're cut of In a door,
way Of house, unable to move for
four days. We had no water for 48
hours.
The government forces battered
great holes in the walls of the bar
racks with field guns. The house in
which I had taken refuge was between
the two barracks. and finally man
aged to crawl on my hands and knees
to government post. There, when
told them was q foreigner, they al
lowed me to pass
Five airplanes belonging to the in
surgents bombarded Gijon and the
railway station at Langreo, killing a
number Of soldiers and civilians.
when the Almirante Cervera be-
gan her bombardment. bowling mob
Of men and women. led by militiamen,
rushed to the Church of the Sacred
Heart in the middle of the town.
Breaking down the doors, they took
the 500 prisoners, anti-government
officers, men, women and children,'
into a field. where they were shot
down in heaps. The mob then poured
gasoline on the bodies and set fire to
them"
At Fuenterrabia. which is Just across
the River Bidassoa from Hendaye, the
government militia pays a nightly
visit to the prison in Fort Guadalupe
and takes out four or five prisoners
to be shot.
In San Sebastian there is a daily
execution Of hostages seized among
the political opponents of the Popular
Front. A few days ago. 81 officers
were shot, but the normal number is
about 10 prisoners executed every day.
Five hundred hostages. imprisoned
in the church Of Santa Maria in San
Sebastian, are feared to have been
taken out and shot Monday, when the
Almirante Cervera bombarded the
town, blowing up the bridge in front
of the Casino and causing a number
Of casualties among the government
militiamen. About TOO hostages are
held prisoners in ships in Bilboa Har-
Dor. and it Is almost certain that they
have been massacred. although as yet
there Is no certain news as to their
fate. Several ships have been sunk by
the government forces, and it is
thought that these contained civilian
prisoners.
The government forces in all these
coast districts are deliberately killing
prisoners and political opponents so
that when the insurgent forces enter
the town they will find ruin and
smoking shambles.
tcCpyrisht 1886 by the North American
Newspaper Alliance, .lcJ