Casas Viejas Massacre (1933)

On this day in 1933, forces of the Second Spanish Republic massacred suspected anarchists in the town of Casas Viejas, trapping families in their homes and setting them on fire. 21-24 people were killed.

The massacre happened following revolutionary marches by the anarcho-syndicalist union Confederación Nacional del Trabajo (CNT). Earlier in January, two government guards were wounded in one of these demonstrations.

The Second Spanish Republic (not to be confused with the socialist governments during the Spanish Civil War), forcibly suppressed this working class movement. On January 11th, 1933, the "Civil Guard" and "Assault Guard" arrived in the village Casas Viejas. Many of the villagers fled, but some anarchists tried to resist arrest and barricaded themselves in the home of an anarchist, Francisco Cruz Gutiérrez, who was nicknamed Seisdedos.

When guards under the command of Captain Rojas arrived, they set the house on fire with the anarchists and their families still inside. One anarchist, Maria Silva Cruz, survived the fire and emerged with a child, a boy, still alive.

Soldiers and police then arrested anyone in the village who possessed a gun, marched them to the smoking ashes of the cottage and their dead colleagues, and shot them in the back. Between twenty-one and twenty-four people died during the incident.

The massacre led to widespread outrage among left-wing groups, some of which had previously participated in the Second Spanish Republic, significantly undermining support for and compliance with the government.

Read more:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casas_Viejas_incident

https://www.surinenglish.com/lifestyle/ … 337-v.html