* Interview with Casimiro Jimenez Medina at his home in the town of Regla / Havana on October 9, 2005
-born
Where and when I was born in 1912 in Santa Clara
"Tell me about your childhood
I spent a tough childhood because when I was about eight years I was motherless and Santa Clara went to live in the country and right there I started working at a sugar mill called San Antonio, that was in the municipality of Villa Clara . Work from child without going near a school and earning very little
- I still have memories of your childhood? Look
I was a kid like many there, living with fairness, when podía.Era working environment as very familiar, where we knew everyone and lived almost as far día.Yo solving each of those years I have mostly a memory for the "Black Nicholas" Look, that if a guy was lit!
- What does it mean?
that black was about 113 years old when I met him and was completely blind but still saw todo.Resulta that came to Cuba directly from Africa, slavery, and after spending a lot of work became a man a man libre.Era respected because he knew things in life than others and we could not see, so that sometimes when there was a problem that no known address, Nicholas went to step, but without realizing importanica.El not talking about himself and said he had powers or that thing, but really tenía.Recuerdo in a time when the people of us went to look for a woman who was as crazy and he kept shouting, Nicholas Entar asked her to a woman gave casa.La terrible cries and the soldiers who had not dared to let go but Nicholas said to be left alone with él.Nadie know what happened there but left the two as if such a thing and women are not that black llevaron.A me grabbed my baby, because I was a little kid but was always the thing of wanting to be with él.Hubo something I said and I remembered all my life, especially in Spain, where it got candela.El "Nicholas Black" told me I was protected from the dangers and would not think of anything in life, we would die of viejo.Parece that acerto . Another time it happened I ran out of power or talk because I was playing along the river and fell, a large river, and it turns out that man, Nicholas, blind and all jumped into the water and pulled me as if such cosa.Era a different man.
"Tell me about your work and the things he did at that stage
Well, as I said I started to work very young and hardly had time for anything else, first as a sugar worker and then I gained more categories and I worked scrubbing dishes in a hotel
winning six dollars per month. There the matter was complicated and had to return to work with my father was a driver camioncito.El "bus" and I was "bus driver" that también.Despues I left the stage to find work and walked to Santiago de Cuba, walking along the line of tren.Eso was terrible, walking without stopping trabajo.Llegué to Bayamo and I was employed at a hotel in the kitchen and me I knew something was like a second cook and twelve pesos.Despues paid me a while back to Santa Clara again and went back to using the viejo.El gave me ten percent of what made the "bus"
- When beginning to have political awareness?
Well I'm a communist since he was a child because it was a "Wit" and had many English
hear, hard thing! I started the match with thirteen years, then I worked with oxen bringing them here and there and there was tremendous communists.
- How he met the former Communists?
Well they knew me mí.Había man named Hernandez Cuban communist era was the holder of books. my dear man grabbed me because I always saw no shoes and the soles of the feet made a cigar fell . To me that people knew me right away.
- When he began to be active as a militant? Before all that, my sympathies were anti-imperialist nationalist
go! I first of all I began to realize the operation but not in the game todavía.Recuerdo that once when I was there was a bus driver strike in Santa Clara seamstresses and impulsive I was young but I liked sports and got into the "trainer" as a boxer, I learned to box a bit and as I said , with bus driver, fell for women to hit in a strike they had and as I did not like it stick to the women I pulled the bus and he went to death a policeman and arrested me right there and I llevaron.Por Luckily, I had an uncle who had the upper hand in politics tradicional.Se named Jose Garcia and thanks to him nothing happened and the police stayed with the punches, but then began the students and youth at that time to calentarme.Uno named Luis de la Torre was oppositional terrorism and the type was set at mi.El had put bombs and sabotage and I started to bomb along with those guys.
- In what time are we talking about?
creo.Esa On the thirtieth year was the dictatorship of "Machado." Those guys told me that if the Nationalists are this, that if we are that and then I started talking about the Communist Party and then I started to change as ceased to be a terrorist, I grabbed the boys from the Communist Youth League and in 1931 joined allá.Empecé to read a lot and I joined leninismo.Ocurrió Marxism that I was the founder of "La Liga" in Las Villas because the party was founded in 1926 and was creciendo.Como I was a boy who was not afraid risky League immediately promoted me and gave me different tareas.Me remember that at that time there was a large demonstration in the street and I Máximo Gómez police entered a waste tank and I got killed by cabeza.Allí Milian Milton was a great compañero.Su funeral was one of the largest to be lived in Santa Clara
- How was the transition to the Party Communist from "The League"?
Well, being of youth commissioner gave me work to organize because the sugar workers at a meeting of the Communist International called on the party to act to guide to the sugar workers because this was the main industry was already país.Allí Party convocábamos Comunista.Recuerdo sometimes a clandestine meeting and presented doscientos.Yo always wanted to choose other people but I always appointed me.
"In his revolutionary activities suffered much persecution"? I have been imprisoned Permanente.Yo
neither know .... seventy-three time the Guagiro parece.Una me in one of those protests, loaded a horse with a machete against the Guard and I was arengaba.Esa the situation more or less of that época.Era a tough time, my kids went hungry, she ate flour and I remained in the Party. "Tell me
repression of those years
Well look when the Americans came here with those big horses and went for a walk in the city of Santa Clara, stuck presos.A many prisoners took us to the barracks under any circumstances, that if we were revolutionaries , if that ... I was lucky because I gave it a try something different, one day I remember I was a prisoner, I had punished
cement sacks, locked in a room and moving the bags to and fro . I were fatal, making my needs right there and I threw them in a careless around the water tank and painted slogans across the galley, "down the government" and other cosas.Entonces was that the head of the regiment came When he saw as he was told to take me to the dining room to give me liberasen.La almuerzo.Despues asked me distinguían.Todo I actually like this could be happening in 1926 when the Government took
Machado - As this stage ends his in Santa Clara? I had stopped
irme.Me continuously and threatened me for my activities revolucionarias.Una time I went to get my house to kill me I think, saved my uncle, uncle who was a close friend of Machado. When he heard I was in prison and that my life was in danger there and called the man came to Santa Clara, came and released me buddy! The mill went bankrupt and I stayed there same with the viejo.Yo I knew I had to leave because if I mataban.Yo had some friends who were the parents of the singer Barbarito and wife, Dulce Maria, who was a mulatto was very nice to me when I took the barracks, I saw pena.Ella was noted that his feet were raw and told me I had to heal, so she treated me skin Recoil plants pies.Cuando cured me of this woman, I started a skin that looked like a animal.Yo his feet and pure poverty without money even for zapatos.Pero my problems were because he began as a stage that was not good anywhere, everywhere persecuted so I went not donde.Entonces know very well from when I was young of those who have no food and that thing .... I had a hunger carajo.Recuerdo I got to a cafe, ordered a glass of water, drank a glass of water and I had four doctors caí.Por luck sitting at the bar and one of them answered me and gave me a brain treatment because he was injured, fed me and treated me very bien.Recuerdo I had the nose East and I sat there to give me the aire.Yo sick and all I could see that right there four or five miles was an American ship.
- How the fall of Machado lives?
Everyone knows that after the fall of Machado revolution Holgín.Allá went in the East we fought for workers revolution of the peasants supported by soldiers and sailors and then, there, in the eastern lands were achieved soviets.Era consolidate a movement so powerful that the imperialists had involved a amenaza.Ya would tell you that the peasants were willing to carry the machete was a situation that has been given the conditions we could have taken power, but there were a lot of repression, many struggle titánica.Ahí torturas.Fué I was already a Communist conscious, and was in the partido.Fue Provincial Committee at that stage when we changed tactics and semi-legal organizations and these organizations create a sketch Confederation of Workers of Cuba, was formed a large opposition bloc as this, the dictatorship and that dictatorship was not
- How to remember the beginning of the civil war in Spain?
That was expected because fascism were strong in Europe and in Spain was a revolution and they had organized a movement frenarla.Aquí great addition to the English who were Republicans here organizations mobilized very quickly, turned in española.Yo defense of the Republic in the Villas had a long reputation for my revolutionary work, so I ordered the task of finding people to go to the English war to fight here fascismo.De were many because it is not my town but it is that The Villages was one of the most revolutionary provinces throughout Cuba in all a people of hell situaciones.Era
"You were responsible for recruiting fellow
Yes, the, party responded to call of the Communist International, the Comintern and began looking for volunteers to fight there, but many were not communists, they were people who had a leftist ideology or democratic and that he wanted to fight against fascismo.Cuando wine and the triumph of President Roosevelt in the United States, politically, here formed a very large block with leftist movements and workers in that situation dictatorship and Cuba had smoothed mucho.En something happened and there was a Mexican official named Romero seems to have been an agent yanqui.Ese ambassador had a major influence on Batista who gave a series of steps that improved our freedom Batista action. we called the "reality factor" because it was the boss and the president was a pelele.Estabamos in 1938 and at that time sounded much a English song "No Pasaran" and put it on the Victrola, sometimes formed row by putting that record but people had with it as a escape.La solidarity with Spain from the start was very activa.Primero solidarity and moral support began after using material but the Cuban is Cuban and internationalist by nature, we Cubans do not understand internationalism as something on paper but with blood on his hands, as the highest part of the development of a revolutionary is to seize power and move it to the bourgeoisie with guns in hand and help the freedom of the sectarian and
pueblos.No communists went on that problem because it was not a communist government that we were defending but the Popular Front government, progressive, and we supported that government-
You repeatedly denied its inclusion among the volunteers
Yeah, well that was because the party was tiny and everyone could not go to España.Resulta when I decided to fight in Spain was a party organizer Fabio Golobart and said I was very active and needed aquí.Mi first intention was to go but the game made me responsible for recruiting in the province, then
after about months I decided I had to be with the men I was with Golobart reclutando.Hablé and said "I'm recruiting people to Spain, to go to fight, but I'm not Captain Spider". I could not be "captain Spider, "sending people to fight, and I was in Cuba and although the party opposed, step a fact that came to Havana to discuss with Fabio that I wanted to go and again I said no, I had to stay, but I was always quite stubborn.
- decided to travel to Spain without permission of the party?
If so, the fight against fascism was more important than the discipline that I returned to Santa Clara momento.Me and started to arrange everything for marcha.Me occurred a very curious anecdote is that I went to get birth registration for the passport thing and that was when I learned that my name is Roberto Casimiro.Yo called me and my family, colleagues, my wife, all called me by my name, Roberto, but it appears that in the inscription placed Casimiro. At the end we learned that when my father decided I was to register at the last moment that the process did a friend who gave him the role but this lost, then was that my dad told me to put as my grandfather, Casimiro Ramon, and he did but we were all that I had Roberto since it is the first thing I said from then padre.A Casimiro.Mi call me that married women knew already, was just an anecdote
- When you left?
In 1938, I think that in the month of May, so if I remember is that boarded the "Queen of the Pacific, a inglesa.Nos flagged ship fired the political bureau of partido.Yo I managed to have the passage in this issue because I was one of those responsible for reclutamiento.Fabio came up to the deck and asked me to leave but I told him I had already made the decision to fight in España.Fué of the few times in my life I was undisciplined militant but fortunately I was expelled from the party. The trip was a beating, I remember very pesado.Yo snuff and I had fun, because in the office quitaban.Yo gave us something that controlled him and said "take" and man, grateful, shook my hand and I took what I had
"Tell me about the arrival in France
Then we reached a port called" The Pallice "which means the beating and peers of France were waiting to accompany the train that we had to take up Paris France. the capital of Paris was nine days.
- What do you remember Paris?
That was cute, really cute, it was a sueño.Había a lot of roads that communicated everything very bien.Luego there was another chance, I liked to box, I boxed with cotreatment but boxers and coaches and then I met a guy who was Cuban champion and world champion and living in Paris, had a nightclub there and had married a woman who saw me was blanca.Cuando pussy said, what kind stone came here! When we I was going to Spain, I said you're an asshole, they will kill you, stay with me here pussy!. He a cabaret and I chose the Cuban said that I wanted, imagine you ..... from there I went to Spain
- How was the entry into Spain? Well I
between civilian clothes for a place called Port Bou after crossing the Pyrenees, I was taken along with the rest of the group, the site that were all volunteers who were passing through France, the former Castle Figueras.Allí they did was give military clothing, trousers and a shirt, you had to choose the sizes because I got them changed and gave me a change of clothes and shoes and everything.
- Do you remember any of the fellow who came with you?
And I'm quite old and I can remember, just remember some, Manolo del Peso, Mario Morales, Basilio Cueira, Julio Cueva, Pompilio Viciedo and many others who do not remember
-spent a few days in Barcelona do you remember? Pretty
bien.Es a beautiful city and had a great revolutionary atmosphere in calles.De what I remember is that of "Barcelona is if the silver bona person"
"Tell me about your way through the International Brigades were
colleagues around the world, American, Italian, English, German .... partes.Nosotros all Cubans were the best,
had a lot of discipline and a political consciousness.
"Tell me about the discipline
had a lot of discipline, discipline moral.El Cuban, you know who is "handsome" in nature, and being "cute" is more disciplined than others like the Germans or the fame of revelers rusos.Tenemos but we showed that a Cuban is more than eso.Para maintain the conditions we victory would lead to the discipline was required and there were many cases in which severity was applied, but it was necessary.
- Which graduation fought?
I was out but in fact it was a political task because he was secretary of the Communist Party of Spain in the late Compañia.Más when crossing the border took on more responsibilities
-spent nine months in total to fight "Tell me about those days?
For the first greeting we received upon arriving in Figueras was a bombardeo.Yo arrived in the last part of the war and fought on the Ebro and then it was all over the withdrawal until retirada.Lo of the Ebro was a tremendous battle , died there many cubanos.Peleé Gandesa and a number of towns where the line was fixed frente.Fijate to be there fighting at the Ebro was decided to withdraw from España.Yo internationalists had come to Spain in late May and in September and told us we had to go, but we went, we españolas.Aunque units fighting in the International Brigades in Spain they are retired, the Italians, Germans and Moors Franco continued to fight with so we are still there
- fought in that unit?
I was sent to the machine gun company of 59 Battalion, 15 Brigade, 35 Division of 15 Corps of the Army, the head of us was Colonel Pedro Mateo Merino.
"In the end he joined People's Army unit
We were asked us to continue the fight alongside the English and my battalion of 15 Brigade all took a step forward, all but the battle of the Ebro One died very good company, but if hard was the Ebro, the harder was the withdrawal.
"Tell me about the withdrawal
I fought not to know how many people in the withdrawal internationalists because we had to endure the pressure of the enemy troops to allow time for the withdrawal of the civilian population and the regular army that was increasingly embolsado.Recuerdo in this retreat we continued to Barcelona and there we were pulled from roofs because there were people there waiting to ambush troops arrived to attack them as they pass through the portals were looking ciudad.Nosotros buildings to take shelter but it was very dangerous because the snipers who were white with some people quite facilidad.Había of us that are camouflaged and when we stopped and let go the guns also wore paisano.Peleé in Granollers place called La Garriga, because the drive was awful and had to retreat to kick limpio.La situation had become untenable and now what was sought was to evacuate civilians from the most orderly that order is not possible .... ninguno.Recuerdo was now defending the position of La Garriga fought alongside some very brave comrades who fought under the command of a Brazilian communist named Luis Carlos Pertis, a communist verdad.Recuerdo this as if it were happening at this time ... ... twelve tanks came and we were resisting to give time to the withdrawal of our ejercito.Fue on why this Brazilian captain said "Come with me" and left with hand pumps for those tanques.Eran Italian tanks and achieved a three or four pop them until they gave up in continuing to advance along that road .... but not for long because it was already in full derrota.En later I was assigned tasks of sabotage and disable the weapon itself not to fall into enemy hands, flying airfields and destroying aviones.Poco before crossing to France, in those last weeks in Spain, the situation of our troops has deteriorated a lot because we were shattered and hambrientos.Recuerdo that this was a continuing flight for those towns, covering the retreat of the army and going to contain that sentence as disproportionate force was giving us caza.Me remember in one of eas, we had as six days without take off our boots, had lunch and were very thin, with very bad, so all we could do when we were not shooting well dormir.Estando was to throw us one morning .... sorry music were Poles who were singing the same music and had us look bad, weak, dull, but it was marching and singing, then we got in males and did the same, go singing that accompanied formación.El commissioner asked us that troop acudiésemos to a village called Casal de la Selva was resisting the Llanos Colonel desperately calling for reinforcements because they had already killed many of the suyos.Fue then they sent us a truck that took us to the people and there endured three days until the army could cross the República.Desde Angosteras.Una sent us there once there we were told that the front was thirty-five kilómetros.Allí gathered the remains of the 35 Division in order to resist any price because they had to put the enemy to allow time for crossing the border from the past who had arrived from Barcelona and peoples came Angostera alrededor.Hasta an outpost of the fascist tanks but our preparation was able to wrap and immobilize tank so that he could not move at night pueblo.Recuerdo we in a church that was full of straw and got a hen who were giving candle in a jar that was full of aceite.Despues got the chicken in water for five more candle Horras but against harder it gave him the chicken and put being in that grind was when they heard the gunfire and began bronca.La lot of us is that there was a company in the Nordic countries to withstand the first blow and then we position ourselves and could not enter the village, but from the rear Fascist cavalry attacked us that he almost coparnos, but we break that cerco.Había an Italian who told him that it was Toni Company us and that was the joy of División.Se was a cheerful guy who played the accordion and where was the alegría.Ese was wounded man fell there in the trap of Angostera.A my wall I had one machine gun , then grabbed it and climbed the wall but the Italian was dropped because he was wounded in both legs, then you said "I'll take you, but I'll take my way," and I tied the hands and feet and left him and head for abajo.Me threw it over and we had to leave to escape those pantanos.En these swamps had some bushes that are called cork that are corcho.A those who give me those charts that were peeled seemed giants, as well as Don Quijote de la Mancha, was a sensation terrible.Pude get a bottle of brandy and I got half a bottle in the body. this flight was formed because we had a huge matazón Moors and over and shouted at us pinko drop the gun!. There I saw die in a great community, Paul Danton, a man of ideology and action whose death I felt a lot
- Achievement save his fellow Italian?
Yes, it was a gold standard among internationalists, we could not leave any partner atras.A Toni managed to ride a mule, and we, as a río.Ibamos and six men in these flight and I was told that the injured to go through later spent todo.Yo mule and the mule pulling the rest of the men did on both sides of the mule to offset the weight.the mule did not want but had to be balanced but ultimately passed.
- How to remember the final moment, crossing the border? Very tristezazo
I think it was the only time I felt really scared because we were coming in sight of the border was seen as white spots that were the landmarks that marked the paso.Yo saw those white spots from a small hill from which he also saw as they approached six tanks that were supported by fire mortero.Sentí fear of dying on the shore, but not demostré.Me he idea to pull the machine and run to the border but then gave me more afraid of being a coward and Mella.Entonces I remembered I started to die rather than be a man without honor.
- discipline was maintained in those moments?
maintained discipline but had a lot of nerves between combatientes.Yotuve an incident with a Colonel who disrespected me and I did the same with the block, then things get heated up and the guy pulled his gun and pulled and I pulled mine and también.Aquello pulled was a very tense situation because he said "lie, pull you" and I replied that if he had guts to do it el.Aquello ended in apologies but I do see how the nerves were men who saw France on one side and the other enemy tanks.
- crossed in the last minute?
Without duda.Nos approached to a distance of a mile until they could see the concrete markers perfectamente.Se saw no man's land and France, but to get there had to cross a road that could fall into enemy hands Moment all this happened I stopped a truck and knowing that if they wanted they would ambush facilmente.No that truck could climb but at least informed us that not go over to Port Bou because that was on, which we did by Puigcrda that I was not too lejos.Al end that was the point where they left Spain.
- went directly to the concentration camp?
Well first we were like a day in a plain where there was not agua.Allí arms and pulled us all they could because they were awful as those brought senegaleses.Me most Cubans to the concentration camp they had improvised in the Argeles Sur Mer beach and there I spent almost four months in appalling conditions but with a great camaredaría because people quickly organized the thing to make the wait more tolerable until we could leave that we did infierno.Dormíamos in holes in the sand and covered it with anything to protect against wind and rain and cold food terrible.De long story and hygiene conditions and things were really depressing because we only had an aid station for the entire field that once numbered more than 200,000 inmates. What I remember was the worst contemptuous treatment they gave us Senegalese soldiers who were framed in the French army because at that time Senegal was a colony of them. Those were bad with balls black gossip!. I remember the occasion on which we sold a bag of shoes but you know how was this bag! one-legged friend, so they were looking like crazy aquello.En whom ever sold them paid dearly for their cruelty because they tended trampas.Despues the first month that improved a bit especially in the food, plus we had its own kitchen and even a bag of patatas.Además, the Cubans made a home with what we could, and there with waste materials made a globe in which all countries were the two hemispheres .... everything was good for entretenerte.Para shit had to get into a draw to inside, to the sea, the wave came and made you "bam." .. did not have to wash your ass
- singing songs?
Yes of course, the Cubans were always with the kinds of music, but also with Julio Cueva us was the musician, who composed a song Allé Allé named Kicks spoke of the Senegalese and the beatings that we daban.La thing escalated and when they gave us would end up giving them too so that in recent weeks away from there.
- Did they kill someone?
As four or five
-output, tell me what you remember leaving the field. Wine
Consul of us in Paris to say that in Cuba the thing was being organized for sacarnos.Entonces Manolo Ortega was a boy and had no papers or a fuck was he who had the biggest problem but we managed to get him into the grupo.Sabíamos that Cuba policy was changing and that had a massive response to our vuelta.Además the French government facilities because he wanted was out of the way as many prisoners, what they wanted was to get rid of that mess up because they did not want that burden here
- When you come back?
1939.Fue In May the most exciting moment of my life when I arrived at the port of Havana and saw the Cuban flag and the people of Havana awaiting their contener.Yo combatientes.Lloré without being able to have wept only three times in my life, when they killed Jesus Menendez, the union leader's sugar guardaespaldas.Lo I was murdered and I was not there to evitarlo.La other was after the victory Bay of Pigs against yankis.En the port of Havana cried inconsolably, by emotion, by the defeat of the Republic and for the hundreds of team members would no longer
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