This is part two of Dr Sutherland’s account of the siege of the Alcazar in 1936.
The Madrid Government sent two emissaries to the Alcazar. The first was major Rojo, and officer of the regular army, and one of the few who had remained loyal to the Popular Front Government. Most of those who did so had no alternative. Under a truce he arrived at the main entrance at 9 a.m. on September 9. Two officers blindfolded him and led him to Colonel Moscardo to whom he handed the conditions of surrender. All lives would be spared. The garrison would come out in groups of five, women and children first, officers last. All arms would be deposited in an assigned place. The officers would later be judged by Tribunals of the people. The terms were refused. By this officer the Colonel sent a request to the Government. If they had a priest under sentence of death would they send him to the Alcazar to share the garrison’s fate? Before Major Rojo left, two officers asked him if he would not stay. He replied that if he failed to return to Madrid his wife and children would be killed.
The Government did not send a condemned priest. They sent Canon Vazquez Camarasa, a suave and plausible cleric, who arrived on September 11 and stayed a few hours. He told Colonel Moscardo that in Madrid things were normal. There were small queues, but they were rapidly served. All the churches were closed, but he himself had not been molested. On the front door of his presbytery was a large notice: “Protected by the C.N.T” the anarchists trade union. He did not mention the nightly butcheries, the “Dawn Brigades,” the Checas, the Commissars, or the People’s Tribunals. He then casually inquired how many people were in the Alcazar. The Colonel replied that with all due respect the question was indiscreet. The Canon apologised profusely.
In the presence of the garrison, the Canon said Mass, and then addressed a few words of comfort to the congregation. He spoke of the glory that would be theirs in the next world, but not in this world, as he was firmly convinced that they would be defeated. As there was no time to hear individual confessions, he gave a general absolution. And that, says Colonel Moscardo, was a “moment of inexpressible emotion for us all.” Holy Communion followed. “Finally, in a magnificent procession filled with religious fervour and patriotism, the Blessed Sacrament was carried to the seriously wounded in the hospital.” In that sentence Colonel Moscardo reveals his Catholicity. His mistrusted the Canon as a man: he welcomed his ministrations as a priest.
Once back in the Colonel’s quarters the Canon said he quite understood why men should defend themselves in the Alcazar, but what he could not understand was why women and children should be exposed to the privations and dangers of the siege. The Colonel at once realised that the wily Canon was about to make the women and children a question of conscience, and that his principal object in coming to the Alcazar was to arrange for their evacuation. The Colonel also knew that if the women and children were in the hands of the communists, the latter would use at least threats against them to weaken the morale of the garrison. So he sent for one of the women who, on behalf of the others, told the Canon that they were safe where they were and would share the fate of their defenders. That settled the matter. The Colonel then announced that any man who wished to consult the Canon on spiritual matters might see him alone. Here he trusted the Canon as a priest. Nor was his trust abused. The Canon received many notes from the men for their wives and families in Madrid. He told the Colonel. The Colonel pointed out that the notes might endanger the lives of the families in Madrid. The Canon agreed, and handed over all the notes. He then departed.
To be continued …
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