Melitón Manzanas González (9 June 1909 – 2 August 1968) was a high-ranking police officer in

Francoist Spain Francoist Spain (), also known as the Francoist dictatorship (), or Nationalist Spain () was the period of Spanish history between 1936 and 1975, when Francisco Franco ruled Spain after the Spanish Civil War with the title . After his death i ...

, known as a torturer and the first planned victim of

ETA Eta ( ; uppercase , lowercase ; ''ē̂ta'' or ''ita'' ) is the seventh letter of the Greek alphabet, representing the close front unrounded vowel, . Originally denoting the voiceless glottal fricative, , in most dialects of Ancient Greek, it ...

.Iglesias, María Antonioa
"Hablan las víctimas de Melitón Manzanas" ''(The victims of Melitón Manzanas speak)''
''El País'', 2001-01-28. Retrieved 2011-10-23.
''El Mundo'', 2001-01-20. Retrieved 2011-10-23.[https://web.archive.org/web/20111007162318/http://www.es.amnesty.org/com/2001/com_30ene01b.shtm "España: no deben tolerarse las recompensas a torturadores" ''(Spain: rewards to torturers should not be tolerated)''], Amnesty International. 2001-01-30.

Background

Manzanas entered the police force in 1938, in Irun, where he established one of his infamous interrogation centres and collaborated with

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

— he helped the

Gestapo The (, ), Syllabic abbreviation, abbreviated Gestapo (), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of F ...

to arrest Jews who were trying to escape from

occupied France The Military Administration in France (; ) was an interim occupation authority established by Nazi Germany during World War II to administer the occupied zone in areas of northern and western France. This so-called ' was established in June 19 ...

. He was assigned to Donostia-San Sebastián in 1941, eventually becoming commander of the ''

Brigada Político-Social The Political-Social Brigade (, BPS), officially the Social Investigation Brigade (, BSI), was a secret police in Francoist Spain in charge of Persecution, persecuting and Political repression, repressing opposition movements. The brigade was a se ...

'' (BPS), the francoist

political police 300px, East_German.html" ;"title="Vladimir Putin's secret police identity card, issued by the East German">Vladimir Putin's secret police identity card, issued by the East German Stasi while he was working as a Soviet KGB liaison officer from 19 ...

division, in San Sebastián. A Basque himself, he was a vehement opponent of

Basque nationalism Basque nationalism ( ; ; ) is a form of nationalism that asserts that Basques, an ethnic group indigenous to the western Pyrenees, are a nation and promotes the political unity of the Basques, today scattered between Spain and France. Since ...

, which had been revived in the 1960s, and, in particular, to the then fledgling organisation

Death and aftermath

On 2 August 1968, he was murdered in the first planned killing committed by ETA in response to the killing of Txabi Etxebarrieta. His killers waited for him at his residence and shot him seven times. Thirty years after his death, Manzanas was awarded the Medal of Civil Merit dedicated to the victims of terrorism by

José María Aznar José María Alfredo Aznar López (; born 25 February 1953) is a Spanish politician who was the prime minister of Spain from 1996 to 2004. He led the People's Party (Spain), People's Party (PP), the dominant centre-right political party in Spai ...

. Manzanas' service under

Franco's regime Francoist Spain (), also known as the Francoist dictatorship (), or Nationalist Spain () was the period of History of Spain, Spanish history between 1936 and 1975, when Francisco Franco ruled Spain after the Spanish Civil War with the title . ...

, the fact that he was known for having used police torture, and the fact that he was not the first torturer rewarded by the Spanish Government raised some controversy about this award.

Notes

1909 births 1968 deaths Antisemitism in Spain Assassinated police officers Deaths by firearm in Spain People from Francoist Spain People from San Sebastián People killed by ETA (separatist group) People murdered in Spain Spanish collaborators with Nazi Germany Spanish military personnel of the Spanish Civil War (National faction) Spanish police officers Spanish terrorism victims Spanish torturers Unsolved murders in Spain Perpetrators of political repression in the Second Spanish Republic Perpetrators of political repression in Francoist Spain Prisoners and detainees of Spain War criminals of World War II {{paramilitary-action-stub

Background

Death and aftermath

See also

Notes