Battle for the Valley of the Fallen!

In the place where he is buried, Spanish dictator Francisco Franco has built a symbol of his dictatorship that lasted for four decades. Now, the Spanish government plans to exhume his remains and remove this monument to fascism - but the conservatives are opposed to opening of old wounds.

The hills near Madrid are home to a symbol of a four decades long dictatorship – the famous Valley of the Fallen.  It is a mausoleum that General Francisco Franco ordered to be built to commemorate his victory in the Spanish Civil War. Now there are plans to relocate this complex. The "Valley" has a huge basilica surrounded with hills, and Franco is buried there, behind the altar, beneath the monument that is decorated with fresh flowers.

The new socialist-led government is considering to exhume the remains of the dictator in order to remove that monument. But, even after 36 years since Franco's death, this is still a delicate task.

“The Spanish transition towards democracy was an act of prudence after deep wounds caused by war and dictatorship. We had to deal with the past little by little. We may have touched this issue a bit late, but prudence is the key to the success of our peaceful transition” –says Ramon Jauregui, one of the ministers in charge of this matter.



But Spain's conservative opposition refuses such thing. They claim that it would open old wounds.

“There are people in Spain who are afraid to face the darkness of the past. Horrors and massacres were committed here and we are not unique in that because other countries will also have to deal with such issues. I don’t see a reason for Spain not to do it” - explains historian Angel Vinas.

For him, the relocation of the compound should be part of the process. This monument was one of the most visited in Spain, but there are no signs that explain its history, and it isn’t mentioned that it was built mainly by political prisoners.

Nicolas Sanchez Albornoz is one of them. As a student activist, he was sentenced to six years of work in a camp because of "activities against the state." He escaped in 1948 and never returned.

“I believe that it is really shocking that one European country still has a huge monument as a remembrance of one of the bloodiest dictators. It would be best to remove all symbols. The thing that gives force to this particular symbol is Franco's presence” - said Sanchez who is now in his 80's.

The government now awaits a proposition from expert commission before their final decision. One of the proposals is to relocate the Franco’s remains to a more appropriate place, and to bury him in the city cemetery next to his wife. His daughter has already had a complaint, and the foundation that she runs has promised to carry out legal actions to prevent it.

“Many people will oppose this barbarism. They can not move Franco without the permission of his family. That would be sacrilege. One must be careful with the history of Spain. You can not demonize one part of society, and elevate other” – says Jaim Alonso, in a room full of photos of Franco and his portrait. He believes that the general saved Spain from the clutches of Soviet Russia.

We will continue fighting

Few Spaniards openly shows their admiration for Franco, but many have an aversion towards relocation of his grave.

“It is pointless after so many years. With that, we will only continue with the war” – says Jose Luis, one of the visitors of the Valley of the Fallen. "For the side that was defeated in the war it is quite different. The Fascists killed Father Fausto Canales, and his remains were moved to the Valley in 1959. More than 30,000 people that were killed in the war on both sides have been transferred there by Franco’s order ."

“For me it is very painful that the remains of my father are located in a place that was built in honor of the winner of a coup. This looks like a double crime. Firstly, he was executed, and then his body was transferred without our permission to a place that is totally inappropriate” – says younger Canales.  

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He was no elephant – John Sedgwick

In 1864, during the American Civil War, General John Sedgwick (1812-1864) led the forces of the Union against the Confederate troops when the two armies clashed in Virginia.

Since Confederate forces started advancing, General Sedgwick realized that his soldiers needed encouragement. Therefore, he started shouting:

“What? Men dodging this way for single bullets? What will you do when they open fire along the whole line? I am ashamed of you, dodging that way. They couldn't hit an elephant at this dist…”

The General probably wanted to say “distance”, but he never finished his sentence.

He was fatally shot.

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KKK – From murderers to folklore society

Racist movement that has done most terrible crimes in the United States, in the twenties and sixties of the 20th century, still exists. But Ku Klux Klan never recovered after a group of enthusiasts from the FBI broke their backbone in Mississippi.

Although Ku Klux Klan was founded in 1865 (in the defeated South after the Civil War, as a direct consequence of the abolition of slavery), this movement was relatively quiet until the turbulent twenties of the last century. Then, some of their worst crimes they committed in the sixties. In spite of having its supporters in all forms of government (even in the Oval Office), the backbone of the Klan was broken in the late sixties in Mississippi after which KKK never recovered, although they still exist today.

The first reports of BOI (Bureau of Investigation) agents, a small unit whose work depended mostly on the enthusiasm and good will of several dozen young men who wore hats and were clumsy on the trigger, said that radical members of KKK were organizing and meeting secretly. They also noticed that KKK members were following a series of hidden symbols and protocols, and that they are prone to violence and lynching. Their goal was clear: racism, segregation and destruction of the black race. Ties with the police, judiciary, and rich industrialists from the South were confirmed, but not proven.

Crimes committed during the twenties were horrible: hanging of innocent people, stamping, cutting of limbs and the expulsion of all those who oppose KKK. All of this was enhanced with intimidation tactic, which became a symbol of the Klan - burning of crosses and white hoods.

- A journalist from New Orleans brought me a letter from the Governor of Louisiana, John. M. Parker. The Governor has been unable to use either the mails, telegraph, or telephone because of interference by the Klan. The governor is seeking assistance because local authorities are absolutely inactive. He fears that judges, prosecutors and police officers, all of them, are corrupted - J. Edgar Hoover informed the Bureau and initiated the first federal investigation of the Klan. In the letter Hoover received it was stated that the Klan has completely taken over the entire northern half of the country and are killing all those who oppose them.

In the sixties, KKK was responsible for the death of many people. Their motive was the so-called Freedom Summer, a movement that aimed to register all dark-skinned citizens of Southern states in the electoral roll, and to give them a right to vote.  With that, a campaign of terror began. One of the persons that were thorn in the eye of KKK was New Yorker Michael Schwerner (1939-1964). Schwerner organized boycotts of all shops that did not allow African-Americans to enter. Three months later his body was found buried behind a local farm. 21 suspects were arrested, including Sheriff Cecil Price, his deputy and Baptist minister Edgar Ray Killen. After three years of trials, seven of those suspects were convicted, but none of them for the murder of Schwerner.

The anger of the nation resulted in Civil Rights Act of 1964, which abolished segregation.

The hunt for the white hoods started in 1966, after an attack on Vernon Dahmer, famous human rights activist. He died of severe burns a day after his house was firebombed by the supporters of KKK. More than 120 witnesses, informers and moles assisted the FBI investigation. Imperial Wizard of the White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan in Mississippi, Samuel Bowers, who ordered the attack on Dahmer, surrendered himself. He was soon sentenced to seven years in prison and the Klan began to lose its breath.

Bowers and Killen, leaders and one of the main ideologists of KKK movement, were persecuted and often ended up in detention. The Klan never again resurrected, at least not in the form he had in the twenties and sixties.

The FBI estimates that there are currently several hundred small and uninteresting branches of KKK in the U.S.. It is estimated that they have about 8,000 members in 179 communities. They are mostly posing for tabloids and organizing marches with skinheads.

FBI agents were constantly in fear of revenge

James Ingram (1932-2009), former FBI agent, who, in the period of 1975-1983, worked on the most serious cases of racial murders in Mississippi during sixties, said that agents were constantly in fear of revenge of the Klan. 

“Agents would always watch. They’d look underneath their cars to make sure we did not have any dynamite strapped underneath … Then you’d open your hood and make sure that everything was clear there. We had snakes placed in mailboxes. We had threats. We infiltrated the Klan in many ways. We had female informants. … And we had police officers that were informants for us.”

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