The list of Shlyaer

Norwegian consul in Madrid Felix Shlyaier during the "Red Terror" in Spain of the 1930s challenged the authorities and saved many people from the reprisals

How to get around the lock?

Ivan Tolstoy: The history of the 20th century left us a lot of names of those who in the most difficult times saved people, risking their own well-being and even life. For example, everyone knows the names of the Swede Raul Wallenberg or German Oscar Schindler. A lot has been written about their humane activity during the Second World War, films were shot. They are called '' the righteous of the world ''. The German Felix Shlyaer is known only to units and has no honorary titles, although there are no less surnames in the list of people saved by him in the famous “Schindler list” ''. However, there is a difference. Shlyaier made his civil feat, saving people not from the Holocaust, but from the so-called `` Red Terror '', which raged during the Civil War in Spain of the late 30s. Says our Madrid author Viktor Cheretsky.

Victor Cheretsky: November in the morning of 1936 at the Palace of Buenavist, in the Sibeles Madrid Square, the diplomatic Mercedes stopped. An elderly foreigner of impressive appearance came out of it - elegantly dressed, tall, with a magnificent mustache. The Militan militias, guarding the entrance to the palace, where the military department was located, did not dare to stop the important visitor, who in Spanish, but with a strong German accent, threw them on the move that he was going to General Jose Miah.

The general, appointed only a few days ago, after the flight from the capital of the government of the Popular Front, the chairman of the Junta of the defense of Madrid, immediately received the visitor. Well, he, without special diplomatic ceremonies, directly from the threshold attacked the military: '' What is going on in Madrid! I demand to immediately stop the bloody arbitrariness! Otherwise, I will be forced to recommend to European countries to take all the necessary measures against you personally and the Popular Front! ''

Shlyayer was a well -known, perfectly informed and influential in the diplomatic corps

Miaha was directly taken aback by surprise and barely restrained himself from a rude answer like: '' Don’t stick into his business '' ... he restrained himself because he knew that he was dealing with Felix Shlyaier himself, a well-known, well-informed person, and, most importantly, very influential in the diplomatic corps. And this despite the fact that the diplomat who dared to threaten him - one of the most authoritative generals of the Popular Front - was just a consul and not even America, Britain or France, but Norway. In addition, the German by nationality, which was brought, since the Norwegians themselves were not very torn to the warring Spain. Meanwhile, General Miah also understood that for indignation the uninvited guest was a good reason. He knew that unjustified murders, terror in Madrid left for him in the care of him, would never find understanding either in Europe or in America.

What specifically prompted Shlyaera to arrange a spit to the general, clearly going beyond his authority in Spain? Professor of the History of the Catholic University of St. Pavel Louis Tomes believes that the diplomat was shocked by what was happening in the Spanish capital:

Louis of Tomores: November 6, 1936 '“National Forces'', as the troops of the warrior with the Popular Front of General Franco were called, came close to Madrid. The Government of the Socialist Francisco Largo Caballero, who was afraid that the city could fall into the hands of the Francists in a matter of days, decided to move to Valencia. And at the same time it decided to protect Madrid at all costs. The next three years, during which the Popular Front controlled the capital, served it for the deliberate and organized destruction of the civilian population suspected in the inferiority. In the massacres without trial, the Communists participated, who eventually became the leading force in the Popular Front, socialists, syndicalists, and so on. In total, more than 25 thousand people were destroyed in Madrid, although no one knows the exact figure.

Near the territory of the Barahas airport, the most massive murder has occurred over the entire time of the war

Some researchers argue that terror was a consequence of the spontaneously manifested popular anger, accumulated over hundreds of years of oppression from the ruling classes. This is wrong. People became victims of a plan developed by the figures of the Popular Front to destroy potential political opponents. Shooters were carried out in such Madrid suburbs as Aravaka, Torrechon and especially paracuelos de Harama. In the latter, next to the territory of the Barahas Airport, the most massive murder occurred over the entire time of the war. In the fall of the 36th, thousands of people died here-the victims of the revolutionaries who ruled Red Madrid during the Civil War.

Victor Cheretsky: There was another factor with which historians explain the behavior of Shlyaier. Like Raul Wallenberg, he was not a career diplomat and, perhaps, therefore did not have the skill to relate to what was happening, as they say, '' diplomatic '' '', but easier - carefully, tolerant, without emotion and even indifferent. Shlyaier was an engineer, an inventor, a businessman, a high culture man - an expert and a collector of painting, a philanthropist. In particular, before the war, he sponsored the work of a German college in Madrid, various art exhibitions and other cultural events. In addition, he was a humanist, responsive and emotional man, perceiving other people's troubles as his own. He spent a lot on charity, helped the poor compatriots in Spain and the Spaniards. In this country, Shlyayer worked from a young age, was married to a Spanka, knew Spain very well. Mass murders of innocent people whose witnesses he became, caused a violent indignation in him. Later, Shlyayer in his book, entitled '' Diplomat in Red Madrid '' described the events of the fall of 36 with his inherent emotionality. And especially what I saw when I visited the place of execution in Paracuelos de Haram.

Announcer: '' At one of the Michelianos, the participants in the reprisal, I found out that people were delivered to the place of execution with two -story city buses. 10 people were withdrawn in two people. They selected outerwear, shoes, cigarettte, wallets ... put it at a deep trench and shot from a machine gun. Then, part of the Michelianos, many of which belonged to the criminal environment, went behind the new batch of victims, and the rest threw it into the trench and fell asleep with a layer of land of executed, sometimes still living people ... Having been at the place of the tragedy, I was convinced that the length of the moat was at least 300 meters. Thus, it could have from 500 to 600 corpses. The bodies of some victims were partially visible in the ditch, as they were barely sprinkled with earth. It was not a question sentenced to death in a more or less legal way. They became victims of arbitrariness by persons not exposed to any legal power. They shot even on anonymous denunciations. They grabbed the Democrats, Republicans, liberals, centrists and conservatives, as well as people who are indifferent to politics - for their social affiliation, to earn a living for non -member form. People who did not violate any laws ended their life path on the edge of a shot ditch. Moreover, more and more people were destroyed every day: the genuine Bolshevik orgy of robberies and murders! ''

Behind the mass executions stood the Stalinist advisers of the Popular Front

Victor Cheretsky: Why Bolshevik? Yes, because for no one, including Shlyaier, there was a secret that the Stalinist advisers of the Popular Front, sent to Spain at the beginning of the civil war, stood behind mass executions. It was they who recommended that the alleged Madrid’s “enemies of the people '' '' and even prompted the effective method of mass destruction on the edge of pre -dug deep trenches. Historian, author of books about the Civil War, Cesar Vidal.

Cesar Vidal: I think that in the history of paracuelos the role of Soviet advisers was decisive. Indeed, Soviet emissaries stubbornly insisted on the need to shoot all potential opponents of the Popular Front in order to prevent their transition to the Francists camp. They taught the Spaniards the methodology of mass destruction of people. This technique has already been used in Russia at one time - during the Civil War. I mean the execution of a pre -dug gigantic moat so that the bodies of the dead are then dropped into this moat. Neither before nor after that people were destroyed in Spain. The presence of NKVD employees in the country has been observed since July 1936.

Victor Cheretsky: Meanwhile, Shlyayer did not give up and tried to confront the “red terror” as best he could. Before and after the visit to General Miach, who, according to the diplomat testimony, told him that he knew nothing about the atrocities created in the capital, the consul repeatedly visited the Madrid prisons-fashionable, San Anton and the Porlier-accompanied by a representative of the international red cross of the Schwegian George Henny. He visited the so -called “Chekas ''. These punitive bodies, named after the Soviet Cheka, were in every Madrid quarter. They were engaged in arrests, torture and destruction without a trial and the investigation of the alleged enemies of the Popular Front. Often, lynching were produced right on the street, in parks or on a highway near the capital.

In addition, the diplomat found out that every night from prisons and departments '' Chekas '', under the pretext of transferring to the places of imprisonment in the rear Valencia, hundreds of those arrested were taken out on buses. Their trip did not last long: the route ended in Paracuelos. The Norwegian consul could not achieve anything from the leader of the Communist Party Dolores Ibarruri. She, too, allegedly did not know anything about the murders, but at the same time, the Passionaria confidently stated how Shlyayer recalled that “to achieve peace in the country, it was necessary that one half of Spain, namely the one represented by the Popular Front, physically destroying the other half - the Franchist” ''.

I did not know anything about mass executions and the deputy Miah on security issues Santiago Carrillo, the future Secretary General of the Communist Party. He even guaranteed Shlyayer that the Spanish lawyer of the Norwegian consulate Ricardo dela Zaerva alive and well arrested on the eve and will soon gain freedom. And this despite the fact that by the time of the conversation of Shlyaer and Carrillo, the lawyer was no longer alive. He was destroyed as the son of the former 'reactionary' 'minister. Meanwhile, Carrillo promised the diplomat that he would find out everything and, if a violation of the rule of law really takes place, then it will be suppressed. Here's what Felix Shlyaier writes about this meeting in his memoirs.

The announcer: '' Carrillo claimed that he had no idea about the atrocities created, which seemed to me a frank lie. Despite his promise to understand, in the following days the executions continued. People were still taken out of prisons and killed. Thus, neither Miah nor Carrillo did nothing to stop terror. In addition, they still claimed that they could not find out anything about the executions that we reported to them ''.

Victor Cheretsky: I was familiar with Carrillo and repeatedly communicated in Moscow, and then in Spain: up to the death of this communist figure in 2012. He even somehow interviewed me about Soviet perestroika, because, leaving the post of Secretary General of the Communist Party, at one time he was tied as a special commander of the Madrid newspaper PAIS '' '. I remember that during the dinner at the Moscow Hotel, Oktyabrskaya, the current 'President-Hotel' ', daring after several glasses of the "capital", I directly asked him about executions in Paracuelos and received in response that, they say, they shot just a "couple of fascinist-makers, enemies of freedom and democracy', and scandal. Around this case, one foreign consul inflated - `` Nazi, personal emissar Hitler '' - in order to earn and at the same time slander the Popular Front.

Among the executed '`Fanish fascist killers and conspirators'' turned out to be 270 children

I was silent, especially since at that time I did not know that about 10 thousand people were killed in Paracuelos. Indeed, in the USSR, no one even stuttered about this. Of course, it was not said that it was about organized and systematic destruction according to the Stalinist standards of mainly representatives of the Madrid intelligentsia: writers, university professors and school teachers, journalists, lawyers, aristocrats, entrepreneurs, and so on. Among the executed '' seasoned fascist killers and conspirators '' there were 270 children. They were destroyed with their parents. So Carrillo continued to lie after many years. Well, Shlyayer, making sure that he was not able to stop the arbitrariness that has done, tried to turn to the world community. Says historian Antonio Manuel Moral, professor at the University of Alkala de Enares.

Antonio Manuel Morality: Felix Shlyaier not only discovered and exposed, but also told the world about the murders in Madrid. First of all, he informed them to the leaders of other diplomatic missions, for example, Assistance to Argentina Edgard Peres. The latter also went to the place of mass executions, discovered ditches with the bodies of the dead and became convinced that the executions really took place. He made a detailed report about this, which he sent to Argentina. Well, the attorney in the affairs of the British Embassy asked him a copy of this document and sent it to Forin-office. In London, where many sympathized with the Popular Front, he produced the effect of an exploding bomb.

Victor Cheretsky: In addition to the Argentine diplomat, Shlyaier convinced him to save the Madrid and other colleagues. The ambassadors of Chile, Cuba and Czechoslovakia began to help him. Meanwhile, the German compiled his own report on the tragedy in Madrid. It contained extensive information based on what he saw, in conversations with the leaders of the Popular Front and on the testimony of the participants in the reprisals. In addition, the School manager managed to make a list of the shot, although not complete. The report was intended for the League of Nations, and the representative of the Red Cross George Henny was supposed to deliver it to the Geneva headquarters of this organization. However, Henny did not reach Geneva - he was shot down by fighters provided by the USSR to the Popular Front together with the pilots. Historians believe that the incident was not accidental - hunting was conducted for Henny and the documents transported by him. The Popular Front was not interested in falling into the League of Nations. Says the Madrid historian Pedro Corral.

Pedro Corral: Henny’s International Red Cross representative flew out on December 8 from Barahas Airport on a PLE plane serving the French embassy. He is all the documentation regarding the murders - only well -verified information. First, the Soviet fighter with the identification marks of the Popular Front approached his plane. The pilot of the French aircraft that was not suspected continued to fly. But suddenly another fighter appeared and Pote shot point blank. Despite this, the aircraft managed to land in the province of Hwadalahara. True, at the same time he rolled over. Of the passengers, no one died at once, although a few days later one of them died from the wounds-the Paris-Soir correspondent Louis Delapre. The government of the Popular Front, as in the case of executions in Madrid, hid the fact of its participation in this act. It accused the Francoist aircraft of the attack. Thus, it was, firstly, about an attempt to destroy Henny and his documents, and then hide this crime.

Henny was in the hospital for a long time, and his portfolio with documents collected by the consul Shlyaier disappeared

Victor Cheretsky: I must say that the idea was partially a success. Henny was in the hospital for a long time, and his portfolio with documents collected by the consul Shlyaier disappeared. Nevertheless, the truth about crimes in Madrid became known in the world over time.

However, the majority of Spanish historians believe that the main thing in the activities of Shlyaier during the war years was still not his exposure of the Popular Front, but the salvation of people. In 1936, the Norwegian Embassy on Jose Abaskal Street in the Chamberi area, as well as a large neighboring building taken on the consul’s personal funds, on which he hid the Norwegian flag, became asylum for almost thousands of Madrid residents, including 120 children. A curious detail: to supply children with milk, the consul acquired several cows and contained them in the embassy garage. For products, two embassy trucks were sent to the nearest villages weekly. And also with a risk to life. One of the employees of the diplomatic mission, who was in charge of the supply, was captured by Michelianos and executed.

With the participation of doctors, nuns and priests who were hiding at the embassy, Shlyaier created a first -aid post and, as they say, a group of psychological support. After all, the atmosphere among the guests of Shlyaer was not easy. There were many elderly and sick, people could not go outside for months or even approach the windows - the embassy was constantly surrounded by Michenyanoc, who from time to time shot on the windows and strove to break into the building to deal with its inhabitants. Many of those who were covered by Shlyaier suffered from nervous disorders, as they themselves barely escaped death, lost their loved ones or did not know about their fate. The consul did everything he could for people, but nevertheless there were constantly not enough products and especially medicines.

The Catholic priest Father Euchenio Martinez, who has been studying the story of Shlyaer for many years, believes that his name is undeservedly forgotten.

Euchenio Martinez: In addition to the fact that Shlyaier was one of the revealing crimes in Paracuelos, he saved almost a thousand people from his faithful death. He gave them asylum, taking advantage of the fact that he actually performed the functions of Norway Ambassador, since there was no such thing in Spain. The embassy building and the adjacent house he turned into housing for the rescued. There were many children among them. Unfortunately, our filmmakers still have not paid attention to the figure of Shlyaier, because it was possible to create a wonderful series about him. Despite the fact that as a diplomat he enjoyed immunity, the risk was huge. He had to get food for all these people who lived in the embassy for a year, while they were not able to withdraw from the city. He tried to save as many residents of Madrid as possible from repressions, people who were killed even for visiting the church, for the Catholic faith or simply because they were dressed in a costume, and not in a working robe, and wore a tie.

Victor Cheretsky: Despite the acute problems, life went on the embassy in the embassy - weddings were handled here, children were born. Meanwhile, Shlyayer continued to visit prisons almost daily. Firstly, in order to impede executions, and secondly, in order to somehow facilitate the life of prisoners, especially women. He personally accompanied buses arrested during their transportation in the embassy car, observing that they were not executed along the road, as it happened more than once. He brought products to a women's prison. The consul managed to get the release of dozens of arrested and get documents for them to leave Spain. Well, when the Michelyanosanos defeated the German Embassy, he was able to withdraw people hiding there and hide at the Norway Embassy.

It is sad that the deeds of our hero are not appreciated by anyone

Euchenio Martinez: Shlyayer took the work of visiting prisons, especially a women's prison, in order to improve the content of the arrested. For the same purpose, he talked with many leaders of the Popular Front. He sought their reception, called, insisted, did everything possible. So this man with a capital letter is worthy of our respect. He was large and physically high, athletic physique and enormous energy, although he was about 70 in those days. With his courage, self -sacrifice, humanism, his deeds, he is not at all inferior to Oscar Schindler and other people recognized by the righteous. It is only sad that the deeds of our hero are not appreciated by anyone. But this is our story, the story of a feat in the name of life committed from July 36 to the middle of the 37th year.

Victor Cheretsky: Indeed, by July 37, Shlyayer completely quarreled with the authorities of the Popular Front. He was deprived of the consular ex -secture and even tried to arrest on charges of espionage. The diplomat first went to Germany, but by winter of that year he returned to Spain. He settled in San Sebastian, who was under the control of the Francists, from where he tried, through his ties in Madrid, to help the evacuation of his wards of the Spaniards. In addition, he asked the audience with Franco and persuaded him to undertake the exchange of prisoners with the Popular Front. Then he mediated the exchange. After the war, Shlyayer returned to Madrid and continued to engage in entrepreneurial activities. He wrote two books-the first, already mentioned, `` diplomat in Red Madrid '', Shlyaier published in the late 30s. The second work - the autobiography was published only in 2006. This is a posthumous edition. The book is called '' Mop in Spain ''.

Shlyayer died in 1950. He was buried in a small so -called civilian cemetery of the Spanish capital. Ironically, his grave is near the burial of Dolores Ibarruri, Prime Minister Largo Caballero and other figures of the Popular Front, with whom he had fought fiercely at one time. It is curious that in recent decades, some Spanish researchers of the left orientation have tried to “promote” the thesis of Santiago Carrillo that Shlyayer was not a humanist at all, but saved exclusively for the money of fascist criminals, enemies of freedom. And at the same time, on the instructions of Nazi Germany, he annoyed the Popular Front with all his might. However, the research turned out to be in vain - no evidence of Shlyaier’s business to save people, nor his connections with the Nazis, nor spy activities in favor of the Francists, were found - neither in Spain nor in Germany.