Lorca's Arrest and the Badajoz Massacre: Two Faces of Franco's Strategy

The article 'Cuando Saturno detuvo los trenes' examines the parallel events of the massacre in Badajoz and the arrest of Federico García Lorca in Granada, both occurring in August 1936 during the Spanish Civil War. While General Yagüe's troops were killing thousands in Badajoz, his allies in Granada went to the house of Luis Rosales and detained Lorca. The piece highlights the dual nature of the Francoist strategy: mass violence in some regions and targeted repression of intellectuals in others. It also discusses the role of the press, focusing on Jay Allen's Chicago Tribune column 'City of horrors' published on August 30, 1936, which reported 4,000 murders in Badajoz. The column was initially lost or censored, but Allen found another route to send it. The propaganda machine of the rebels denied the report and defamed Allen, as noted by his colleague John T. Whitaker in 'We cannot escape history'. The article underscores the importance of journalism in documenting atrocities and the attempts to suppress the truth.