On this day, 9 October 1945, the Labour government defended its imprisonment of 226 Spanish civil war and anti-Nazi resistance fighters, describing them as “serving members of an enemy paramilitary organisation”. The men had been interned in France, but escaped and joined the resistance. They were then captured by the Germans and upon “liberation” they were rounded up and sent to a concentration camp in Lancashire, England. One internee, Agustin Soler, killed himself and others like Eustagio Bustos were driven mad by the persecution. Later, the Labour government deported dozens of anti-fascists who had fled Spain back to the country for torture and probable death.
This podcast episode tells the story of the Spanish civil war: https://workingclasshistory.com/2018/07/29/spanish-civil-war-podcast/ https://www.facebook.com/workingclasshistory/photos/a.296224173896073/1230357437149404/?type=3