"Las Trece Rosas" (the ''Thirteen Roses'') is the name given in

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

to a group of thirteen young women who were executed by a Francoist

firing squad Firing may refer to: * Dismissal (employment), sudden loss of employment by termination * Firemaking, the act of starting a fire * Burning; see combustion * Shooting, specifically the discharge of firearms * Execution by firing squad, a method of ...

on 5 August 1939, just after the conclusion of the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

. Their execution was part of a massive execution campaign known as the ''"saca de agosto"'', which included 43 young men (among them a fourteen-year-old). The thirteen victims were: *Carmen Barrero Aguado (age 24), *Martina Barroso García (age 22), *Blanca Brissac Vázquez (age 29), *Pilar Bueno Ibáñez (age 27), *Julia Conesa Conesa (age 19), *Adelina García Casillas (age 19), *Elena Gil Olaya (age 20), *Virtudes González García (age 18), *Ana López Gallego (age 21), *Joaquina López Laffite (age 23), *Dionisia Manzanero Salas (age 20), *Victoria Muñoz García (age 19), *Luisa Rodríguez de la Fuente (age 18). Seven of the women were under age – in Francoist Spain the age of majority was 21. Following the capitulation of

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

to Franco's troops and the end of the Civil War, the Madrid Provincial Committee of the Unified Socialist Youth (JSU) (an organisation resulting from the merger of the Socialist Youth and the Communist Youth even though most pro-

Spanish Socialist Workers' Party The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party ( , PSOE ) is a Social democracy, social democratic Updated as required.The PSOE is described as a social-democratic party by numerous sources: * * * * List of political parties in Spain, political party ...

(PSOE) members had abandoned the organisation) tried to reorganise under the leadership of 21-year-old José Peña Brea. He was betrayed, arrested, and tortured; under torture he revealed the names of his collaborators, which led to a wave of arrests of JSU members in Madrid. The Thirteen Roses were among the many JSU members captured and imprisoned by the police. During their detention in the Ventas prison they were repeatedly tortured and humiliated, and conditions in the prison were considered inhumane and overcrowded. They were ultimately executed by firing squad against the wall of the East Cemetery (now la Almudena) on 5 August 1939. Many of their comrades at the prison recall that while they were being driven away by lorry to their deaths, they sang the "Youthful Guardsmen" (JSU's anthem) so as to be heard by their comrades who remained in jail. The victims were accused of aiding a military rebellion and of assassinating a high-ranking political police officer, his 16-year-old daughter, and driver; however, they were already in prison when the assassination occurred. In 2005, a foundation (''Fundación Trece Rosas'') was created in Spain to keep their memory alive.

References

Bibliography

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External links

Foundation Trece Rosas (archived)

Tribute to Las Trece Rosas (archived)

with part of the original verdict. {{DEFAULTSORT:Trece Rosas, Las Spanish women of the Spanish Civil War (Republican faction) Spanish people of the Spanish Civil War (Republican faction) Spanish socialists Spanish communists Executed Spanish women Martyrs of the Spanish Civil War Executed activists Communists executed by Francoist Spain People executed by Spain by firing squad Femicide in Spain 20th-century mass murder in Spain Massacres in 1939 Massacres of women Massacres in Spain 1939 in Spain August 1939 in Europe