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Table of Contents
The Complete Maisky Diaries: Volume 3
  • 10 January
  • 19 January
  • 20 January
  • 22 January
  • 26 January
  • 27 January
  • 30 January
  • 3 February
  • 4 February
  • 6 February
  • 11 February
  • 13 February
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  • 15 February
  • 17 February
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  • 20 February
  • 23 February
  • 25 February
  • 27 February
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  • 2 March
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  • 11 February
  • 15 February
  • 19 February
  • 21 February
  • 25 February
  • 8 March
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  • 12 March
  • 13 March
  • 16 March
  • 17 March
  • 18 March
  • Conversation with Butler on 18 March 1940
  • 19 March
  • 23 March
  • 27 March
  • Conversation with Halifax on 27 March 1940
  • 28 March
  • 29 March
  • 1 April
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  • 10 September
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© 2025
15 February
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By Liakhovetsky, Ivan Mikhailovich (Maisky)

The Complete Maisky Diaries: Volume 2

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15 February
Shocking reports from France. More than 200,000 Spaniards – old men, women and children – have fled from Catalonia to France, seeking refuge from Franco. Up to 150,000 Republican troops have retreated over the French border. Such events have occurred before in history. In 1870, a 100,000 strong French army, led by General Bourbaki, retreated from the Prussians, crossed the Swiss border, was interned, and returned to France after the peace treaty was signed. The Swiss treated the French well, and this episode helped considerably in


Page 457

consolidating good relations between the two neighbouring countries. The Spanish Republicans had every reason to expect similar treatment in France. Azcárate told me once that when the armies of Modesto
Juan Modesto, member of the Spanish Communist Party, he commanded Ebro’s army in 1938.
and Líster
Enrique (Forjan) Líster, member of the Spanish Communist Party and commander of the Republican 5th Army Corps, 1936–38.
reached the French border, the two leaders made emotional speeches to their soldiers, telling them that across the border lay France, a country of peace and liberty, where the Republican troops, exhausted by war, would find rest and friendly understanding. Modesto and Líster implored their men to demonstrate exemplary conduct, so as not to stain the good name of the Spanish Republic. The men answered with concerted and resolute pledges…
And now we hear terrible and scandalous news from France. As soon as the Republican troops crossed the French border, they were not only disarmed, as one would expect, but put into concentration camps. The camps are surrounded by black Senegalese soldiers armed with machine-guns. Within the camps, the Republicans have been given nothing but bare ground: no tents, no mattresses, no blankets, no medicine (there are many wounded among them), no food or even water. The men have to sleep in the open on bare ground, lacking those essentials that are usually guaranteed even to criminals. Heroes, whose names history will etch in gold, are being treated worse than thieves and murderers.
It is difficult to imagine anything more vile or cruel, or for that matter more stupid and short-sighted. After all, had the French government so desired, those 150,000 soldiers could have become one of the best armies in France, which is so short of human resources, and the surest defence along the Pyrenean border against Germany and Italy. Or, if the French government had lacked the courage for such a decisive step (cowards are in the ascendancy in the Paris of today!) and had limited itself to affording the Spanish refugees humane treatment, this would have greatly helped promote friendly attitudes towards France on the Iberian Peninsula – an objective that the French government is striving to attain with its humiliating capitulation to the fascist aggressors.
And what do we have now? The French government’s treatment of the Spanish refugees will remain an eternal, indelible stain on France’s reputation. And this will drastically weaken its international position. Such things cannot be forgotten or forgiven. It is not just a matter of the hundreds of thousands of Spaniards who, seeking friendly help in France but finding barbed wire and Senegalese guards, will turn into bitter enemies of the Third Republic. It is also a matter of the democratic elements in other countries who have observed France’s behaviour at this tragic moment and will draw their own conclusions. And when the critical hour arrives for France (and it is not far off), who can say what will happen? Will France find, among the democratic


Page 458

elements, that sympathy, enthusiasm and support which alone can save her from destruction?
I doubt it. But time will tell.
Azcárate affirms that France’s policy towards the Spanish refugees is not an accident, nor a product of bureaucratic disorder, but a quite deliberate stratagem: the French government wants to drive the refugees back to Spain, that is, to hand them over to Franco. That is why Franco’s agents are allowed to spread propaganda openly among the troops held in the camps. That is why every Republican soldier who agrees to return to Franco is immediately granted good conditions and transferred to another camp for the ‘privileged’.
I repeat: what vileness! What utter blindness!
Capitalism is not only decaying, but already beginning to stink.
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Document Details
Document Title15 February
AuthorLiakhovetsky, Ivan Mikhailovich (Maisky)
RecipientN/A
RepositoryN/A
ID #N/A
DescriptionN/A
Date1939 Feb 15
AOC VolumeThe Complete Maisky Diaries: Volume 2
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