Seis Testament-—By Arthur Koestler. With an Introduction by th Duchess of Atholl. Gollancz, London. 10/6.
Whatever Mr. Koestler's political opinions regarding the issue in Spain were before he went through all the experiences which he tells so vividly in his book, there iè no doubt now that he is definitely opposed to General Franco, and considering all his experiences, not unjustifiably so. Mr. Koestler was in Belgium when the Spanish civil war broke out, and it was not very long before he was taking an active p: rt as a press correspondent in covering the rebellion. He writes of his experiences in a. very objective manner und, considering everything, without too much bias. He lays a very good basis for his work by discussing the historica] background, goes on to describe the outbreak and its origins and has à most vivid chapter on the position of the Church Militant in Spain. Indeed, he attributes quite a deal of the trouble which has afflicted that sorely tried country to the attitude of the church, but he points out that:
Franco does not represent the jnterests of believers as against the forces that threaten religion, He represents the interests of that sec-jen of the Catholic population which is Catholic and reactionary, Catholics with Republican sympathies are persecuted by him with the same ruthlessness as are Republicans who profess no religion. The Protestants Who, owing to their social status, are almost entirely Republican, are treated 2s out-and-out enemies, as are the the Jews.
The analogy with the attitude of the State to the Church under other dictatorships is unmistakable, In Germany, too, the National-Socialists, before seizing power, maintained that they were the defenders of the Faith and of culture against the god Weimar Republic; scarcely had they attained power than they began to persecute that section of the Catholic amd Protestant Church which did not submit to the dictates of worldly tyrants and refused to identify themselves with their methods and political aims. In Germany, too, di agreements and splits occurred within the Protestant and Catholic Churches for purely Worldly, political reasons: there were Catholic Cardinals and Protestant Bishops who upheld ancient traditions of Christendom with exemplary courage entered the lists against tyranny; and there were also dignitaries of the Church who became the willing tools of that same tyranny. It would appear that Wherever modern dictatorships of the cist type come to power, the Church has to undergo a histon trial similar to that which it under-Went in the early Middle Ages when the power of the absolute monarchies was being consolidated—a trial leading to the same internal divisions and dissensions.
Atrocity Propaganda Dealing wita the subject of propaganda, end more particularly with the atrocities which it is alleged have been committed by both sides, the author points out that general political arguments, with the exception of the Communist bogey, were of no use as propaganda to Franco in Western Europe:
So he deliberately chose a form of propaganda that from the time of the ritual murder myths of the Middle Ages unti the time of the Reichstag fire and the Abyssinian campaign has alwa: proved an Goratiing. standby whenever it has been essential to "avoid awkward political discussions and to justify She's own terrorist acts by pointing fo those of the other side: what has ome to be known as atrocity propaganda.
3t fø for this reason that the author contends a large number of the horrors alleged to have been com-yuitted by the Reds were not in fact committed, and he goes on to point out that the Insurgents themselves were just as guilty of atrocity, and just as grave atrocity, as that which They were alleging against th enemies; and summing up on the general question of propaganda, the puther says:
.... The rebels, even before the surrection, in status nascendi, as Were, obtain arms from Germany—Mad have the temerity to allege that France has broken the Non-Intervention Pact they install machine-guns their opponents have desecrated, the "churches, and maintain. tha their air squadrons —and all burned Madrid. and Guernica. Mili-Ramon who have been defending the
{soner by the Insurgents. are Government and are, taken of fomenting a "military rebellion, Tu the rebel Press the Burgos Juni from the outset been alluded as the legal Government of the country and the Government troops rebels, A more direct reversal of Mina Spanish War is for the dietaacts would be Impossible. aorships in many respects a dress Tehearsal for the world war for Sihieh it is preparing the way; it is L5. alas, in the matter of propaganda. "e laving of the responsibility for the Civil War at the door of thei Opponents, the designation of a war aggression as a retaliatory measure. me representing of facts of arson as {he extinguishing of fires, of declara-Mons of War os offers of peace—this Is how the coming world war is Telg "prepared.
The Alcazar His version of the siege of the Alcazar in Toledo reads very differently fron: what was reported in foreign newspapers at the time of that big stand. He throws it into an entirely different perspective. telling how the rebels who garrisoned the huge building carried Into it a large number of hostages, includ women who up to thai time had been going peacefully about their household tasks. The stories tole by some of the civilian sufferers in that epic event are indeed terrible, as winzes the following:
^I was imprisoned in the Alcazar fou ten days, Every morning my daughter and I were allowed 1o tke S quarter of an hours walk in the inner courtyard where there were great piles of dead horses, which gave Gut a horrible stench. There were Several soldiers and Civil Guards im the Alcazar who, when the supply of fresh horse-fosh gave out, began to eat the carrion. Several of them died as a result.
"The rebel officers organized the defence of the fortress. Three. times a day the guards were changed in the towers, from which an incessant machine-gun fire was kept up. The Civit Guards used rifles. Fascists in civilian clothes went round the fortress and marched off anyone who talked of surrender. I believe they afterwards shot them. Twice a dav We were given a meal one at midday and the other at six in the evening: we had to queue up for them. By the sixth day the only ood. left was potatoes and lentils On the day of our escape we had Eaten nothin but a morsel of Toasted horse-flesh and a handful of Freud corn. The water was polluted. Dysentery broke out. Every evening typewritten newssheets were aa Hy buted among the rebels, in which it was reported that the relief of the Alcazar was at hand, that Madrid Was occupied by the rebels, and so "on the tenth day of our imprisonment I came across a gunsmith whom I knew very well and who had been duped by the rebels, like many others: Who were there. That evening he had a word with the Civil Guard on duty, and showed him an order signed by the Lieutenant-Colonel: "the signature had been forged. The guard looked at the paper, hesitated for a moment and then led me and my daughter to the Santa Fe Gate, which leads out to the Carmen Hil When we the gunsmith said to me and be as quick as you can risked my head; I only hope it's fame use to you,' My daughter ca ried one child in her arms and I the other. Shots rang out; it was the Militiamen shooting. I cant remember anything for I fell down in a dead faint Praise To Republicans Mr. Koestler bluntly es the story of the siege of the Alcazar primarily a sordid story of blackmail. He alleges that the Insurgents took the hostages into the Alcazar for the purpose of deterring the Republican forces from bombarding it. That the ruse was successful is app: rent from the fact that during the first 34 days of the siege the Republicans were unable to make up their minds whether to bombard the building or not. Even then they did not subject the fortress to a shelling, and it was not until eight days later that the first shells were fired at its outer walls.
Mr. Koestler gives high praise to the Republicans for the fact that when the Alcazar wa ritually taken there were only 83 casualties out of the total garrison of 1500, and fortunately not a single women amongst them was hurt: "In other words," he say ihe besiegers, despite the aircraft and 6-inch guns at their disposal, confined their bombardment right to the very end to the outer walls, the towers and terraces, and never made a real serious attempt to blow the Alcazar to pieces in the way in which, for example, Guernica was blown to pieces. The 400 women and children, behind whose moral protection the heroes of the Alcazar had crept, made a serious siege impossible."
Hidden Hell He goes further, and speaking of the conduct of the Insurgents while undergoing the siege, he tells the following story:
Behind the heroic opera facade hell hid its face. Conditions grew worse and worse from day to day in the Alcazar; the besieged human beings Within ite walls lived on a ration of horse-flesh, black bread made of bran, and à litre of putrid water from the cisterns per head per day. Two new-born babies first saw the darkness of the world in the subterranean vault beneath the Alcazar; three women went mad; three committed suicide. The officers and Phalangists Shot down anyone who dared to protest against the mad folly of this adventure; horror, madness stalked the fortress, On "August 9th. Zara Gonzalez a fourteen-year-old kitchen-maid. crawled through the sewer into the town, where she collapsed "unconscious "In a pool of blood; in the hospital she was just able, before losing consciousness Again, to make a deposition to the effect that she had been violated by eight or nine officers in the Alcazar. Four days later she was dead And the world goes on extolling the heroes of the Alcazar.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.