Beyond death and exile : the Spanish Republicans in France, 1939-1955

1979 marks the fortieth anniversary of the exodus of the Spanish Republicans from the country they had lost to Franco. More than 500,000 sought refuge in France from what they assumed would be death or imprisonment. Louis Stein integrates French, Spanish, and Catalan sources into the first comprehensive account in English of the refugees and their experience in exile.Stein describes their reception on French soil where they were greeted with suspicion and herded into concentration camps. He traces their activities after the onset of World War II working in defense factories and on farms or fighting in the Foreign Legion or the French army. Of special interest is Stein’s delineation of the significant role the Spanish played in the Resistance and Liberation movements. Throughout, Stein highlights the shabby and brutal treatment of the refugees by the Vichy Government and by the Germans, both of whom regarded the Spaniards as “presumptive enemies.”Stein shows how the Spanish anti-fascists suffered their trials with great dignity, hoping that upon Hitler’s defeat, the victorious Allies would turn south and help them destroy Franco’s rule. This did not happen, and their situation at war’s end was almost as grim as it had been in 1939. Many thereupon resumed resistance to Franco, a punishing guerilla way of life that kept their cause ambiguously alive. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS CONTENTS INTRODUCTION CHAPTER ONE. RISING TIDE CHAPTER TWO. THE LONGEST MONTH CHAPTER THREE. THE GREAT FEAR OF 1939 CHAPTER FOUR. IN THE EYE OF THE HURRICANE CHAPTER FIVE. REQUIEM FOR A REPUBLIC CHAPTER SIX. BATHER DON QUIXOTE, DELIVER US ... CHAPTER SEVEN. DEJA VU CHAPTER EIGHT. IN THE SERVICE OF LE MARÉCHAL CHAPTER NINE. AGAINST TWO MASTERS CHAPTER TEN. LIBERATION AND VICTORY CHAPTER ELEVEN. THE BRIEF TIME OF EUPHORIA, 1945-1946 CHAPTER TWELVE STALEMATE, REVERSAL, AND FINAL BETRAYAL CHAPTER THIRTEEN. THE PRISON; CONSUMED A GENERATION OF FIGHTERS EPILOGUE Appendixes. Notes. Bibliography. Index APPENDIX A APPENDIX Β NOTES BIBLIOGRAPHY INDEX Rising Tide : The First Refugees, 1936-1938 -- The Longest Month -- The Great Fear Of 1939 -- In The Eye Of The Hurricane : The Beach Party -- Requiem For A Republic : Recognition, Repatriation, Resettlement -- Father Don Quixote, Deliver Us ... -- Déja Vu: War And Defeat Again -- In The Service Of Le Maréchal -- Against Two Masters : Spanish Guerillas In The Resistance And Liberation -- Liberation And Victory : From Normandy To Berchtesgaden -- The Brief Time Of Euphoria, 1945-1946 -- Stalemate, Reversal, And Final Betrayal -- The Prisons Consumed A Generation Of Fighters. Louis Stein. Includes Index. Bibliography: P. 293-299.