Melitón Manzanas
Encyclopedia
Melitón Manzanas González (Donostia-San Sebastián, 1906-1968) was a high-ranking police officer in Francoist Spain, known as a torturer and the first planned victim of ETA
.
Manzanas entered the police force in 1938, in Irun
, where he established one of his infamous interrogation centers and collaborated with Nazi Germany
— he helped the Gestapo
to arrest Jewish people that were trying to escape from Occupied France. He was assigned to Donostia-San Sebastián in 1941, eventually becoming commander of the Brigada Político-Social (the francoist political police division) in San Sebastián. A Basque himself, he was a vehement opponent of Basque nationalism
, which had been revived in the 1960s, and, in particular, to the then fledging terrorist organisation ETA
.
In 1968, he was murdered by ETA — that was the first planned killing committed by ETA. His killers waited for him at his residence and shot him seven times.
Thirty years after his death, José María Aznar
awarded Manzanas posthumously the medal of Civil Merit dedicated to the victims of terrorism. Manzanas' service under Franco's regime, the fact that he was known for having used police torture and the fact that he was not the first torturer rewarded by the Spanish Government raised some controversy about this award.
ETA
ETA , an acronym for Euskadi Ta Askatasuna is an armed Basque nationalist and separatist organization. The group was founded in 1959 and has since evolved from a group promoting traditional Basque culture to a paramilitary group with the goal of gaining independence for the Greater Basque Country...
.
Manzanas entered the police force in 1938, in Irun
Irun
Irun is a town of the Bidasoa-Txingudi region in the province of Gipuzkoa in the Basque Autonomous Community, Spain...
, where he established one of his infamous interrogation centers and collaborated with Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
— he helped the Gestapo
Gestapo
The Gestapo was the official secret police of Nazi Germany. Beginning on 20 April 1934, it was under the administration of the SS leader Heinrich Himmler in his position as Chief of German Police...
to arrest Jewish people that were trying to escape from Occupied France. He was assigned to Donostia-San Sebastián in 1941, eventually becoming commander of the Brigada Político-Social (the francoist political police division) in San Sebastián. A Basque himself, he was a vehement opponent of Basque nationalism
Basque nationalism
Basque nationalism is a political movement advocating for either further political autonomy or, chiefly, full independence of the Basque Country in the wider sense...
, which had been revived in the 1960s, and, in particular, to the then fledging terrorist organisation ETA
ETA
ETA , an acronym for Euskadi Ta Askatasuna is an armed Basque nationalist and separatist organization. The group was founded in 1959 and has since evolved from a group promoting traditional Basque culture to a paramilitary group with the goal of gaining independence for the Greater Basque Country...
.
In 1968, he was murdered by ETA — that was the first planned killing committed by ETA. His killers waited for him at his residence and shot him seven times.
Thirty years after his death, José María Aznar
José María Aznar
José María Alfredo Aznar López served as the Prime Minister of Spain from 1996 to 2004. He is on the board of directors of News Corporation.-Early life:...
awarded Manzanas posthumously the medal of Civil Merit dedicated to the victims of terrorism. Manzanas' service under Franco's regime, the fact that he was known for having used police torture and the fact that he was not the first torturer rewarded by the Spanish Government raised some controversy about this award.