MAGRANER
JUAN Juan Magraner Iglesias was born in Havana on May 8 from a humble family 1909.Hijo started working very young, first in restaurants and chofer.Como later as many of his generation lived through the process of consolidation of Cuba as a nation independent with tremendous skepticism about the succession of rulers subservient to U.S. demands and later the dictatorship imposed from the polls by Gerardo Machado.Magraner started taking political consciousness and went to various leftist organizations, participating in various youth mobilization at the time broke the force on the streets of Cuba.La lack of opportunities in employment and the desire for world travels did emigrate to the United States just before the fall of Machado, settling in New York, where he worked in various trades . He was only twenty five years and many projects in New York before but quickly got into contact with others Cuban exile coincided with the need to strengthen the organizations that aspired to a shift in the isla.Rodolfo de Armas, Policarpo Candon, Pablo de la Torriente and Leonardo Fernandez were among his close friends that usually coincided Mella Club in New York.También began a relationship with many members of the American Communist Party when he decided to join the time he was elected to the political leadership of the Club Mella, an honor for a Cuban izquierdas.Cuando started the war in Spain was fully committed to anti-imperialism and sought to organize armed actions in Cuba, however, like many others felt the need to join the struggle against fascism and after the famous Union Square rally in August 1936, as Pablo de la Torriente decided to fight in Spain.
As American Communist Party member, volunteered to augment the group that these were organized by citizens of the United States and Latin American exiles living in that country, so that initially would be part of the first group departed for New York January 3, 1937, precisely the group led by Rudolf of firearms to a hundred Cubans who had formed the "Centuria Guiteras" boxed in "Lincoln Brigade", however, took months Magraner supporting a hernia he had broken his health seriously, so it did not achieve approval of the Medical Committee and was losing its peers with tremendous impotence years later describe how hard it was for him to see people like Rodolfo de Armas and others Paris on the steamer while lucha.No was out for, however, relinquished the idea of \u200b\u200bfighting in Spain, admitted to a clinic and was treated hernia bearing two long months of convalescence in which only thought of the fate of their peers in Spain.In then Rodolfo de Armas and many of the members of the first wave of "Lincoln" had already died fighting in the tough battle "El Jarama". Once again presented to the medical committee at this time if given the go-ahead while recognizing that it was not fully recuperado.Juan Magraner was part of a group of fighters, in total thirty-nine, who embarked in New York in March 1937, reaching the French coast at the end of that mes.Como on other occasions, were the companions of the PCF in charge of receiving or transit way to organize your España.Juan Magraner was lodged a few days in discreet little hotel Paris and then framed in a small group of volunteers in which he was the only cubano.Se trying to reach the Pyrenean border avoiding all obstacles French authorities could stand in the way of volunteers so that the operating provisions passed by the French colleagues for organizing small group that was traveling in stages, hiding in villages relatively close to the English border where militants were in the care of of the French left and sometimes supporters of the English Republic, but without further significance política.El Magraner group comprised a total of 110 fighters, but not found until the day agreed to the border crossing, meanwhile spent a few days each small group in a Magraner pueblo.A Alés be touched, a small town whose mayor was Minutes of a communist deputy in the French National Assembly who jammed a brief but sincere amistad.Por last came the day of departure, a circumstance that only knew a few hours antes.Los groups were found a few kilometers from the border where they were collected by two French guides who led them to an abrupt step frontera.La fomada column for those 110 men, comprising Americans, Canadians, Poles, Germans and other nationalities, received final instructions and was launched in silence and a rate of increase that is only stopped for ten minutes every hour, time to catch his breath and followed by those steep gorges, border crossings that in those months would turn into death traps if French soldiers appeared in many cases officers were led by pro-Nazi ideology that took it out on volunteers España.Magraner road crossing had a very hard and she almost hernia give a scare in the middle of the climb, but resisted those twenty hours until they finally reached an open area and on English soil, where the trucks were waiting in which they traveled to the town of Figueras and under the command of an officer English.
When they reached the Castle of Figueras, place of receipt of the volunteers who crossed the border, Magro was waste, so he was allowed to stand for a days recovering from depletion and with the help of a band started becoming involved in just one semana.Juan Magraner speak English properly is something that was not lost on those responsible for the Castle of Figueras who saw in it a good element to work in receiving combatientes.Durante the time kept the fighters arrived in Figueras mixed individuals who expressed in no less than thirty languages, which gives an idea of \u200b\u200bthe complexity of that remained in Figueras tarea.Magraner about a year, till the spring of that time 1939.Durante perform various tasks, always linked with the reception of volunteers, mainly food and France. arms coming through the fighters were gathered in the English side of the border and drove them to Figueres, in the case of weapons complejas.Con things were often received permission to cross to the French side of the Les Perthus border and simulated moving there but actually gasoline in the tanks of their trucks carrying machine guns and mortars that disarmed in small pieces then are mounted on weapons España.es other times they reached the coast, receiving small shipments boats crossing to the beach Llansa, and on the English side of the Mediterranean coast, but with great caution because any movement that you were observed from the French side meant that the operation is aborted and that these weapons are confiscated.
In the spring of 1938, after a year in which Magraner had received thousands of fighters from around the world on his arrival in Spain, began a major mobilization to strengthen the Popular Army in an initiative that would depend on the future of war Ebro.Magraner crossing the river changed its work in Figueras on a destination as a sergeant in a tank company of the 124th Brigade Mixta.Pasó by various fronts of the battle of the Ebro and as the other international volunteers suffered a terrible disappointment when the news of the withdrawal International Brigades español.Magraner ground fighting continued until the end of the war in desperation, in a retreat organized increasingly on his arrival in Catalan lands took desbandada.Ya dyes in Barcelona was instructed to go to Ripoll where Jorge Agostini trying to organize the evacuation of fighters into Francia.Llegó to Ripoll just as this town was being pocketed by the enemy troops and with very limited forces managed to reach the English-French border at For Bou uncertain where he spent hours in the tunnel that divides Both countries have heights Magraner who had fought most of the war almost without Cuban company, was surrounded by fellow citizens who like the tried to leave Spain with the enemy talones.Junto snapping at him and others crossed the musician Julio Cuevas and "Catcher" Basilio Marianao team Cueira.Era February 9 and were just hours Franco's army to control all the steps fronterizos.Magraner arrived in harsh conditions severely affected by a respiratory infection for which he had suffocated at times, but not detuvo.Al across the border guard was waiting for them to immediately Colonial Senegal withdrew their weapons and after a thorough search of an endless line formed and began an uncertain marcha.A those hours still did not know that I expected a real hell, but first had to walk five miles of the order in which they were not provided water or food and yes many
culatazos.Afortunadamente were many spontaneous demonstrations of solidarity paso.Magraner found her again and again remind those humble people who approached them to give them water, bread crumbs, fruit or anything that might help them resist that hard castigo.Eran some 5,000 fighters who formed that group, some of which did not withstand the harsh punishment and had to be dragged by their peers to not be drawn on carretera.A 8 pm on January 9, 1939 they reached the beach of Argeles-Sur-Mer, a place that presupposed was intended only for his column, but when they could see the beach and spotted the crowd were totally desconcertados.Juan Magraner barely had the strength to drop into the cool sand of this beach that had nothing and were treated cruelly . Along with other international volunteers was taken to the sector number ten of the field where the Cubans created a tiny organization in the middle of that thought caos.Magraner leakage from the moment of arrival for very sick knowing he was certain not to resist that punishment, so he devoted all his energies on studying the possibilities of flight. Escape
Argeles beach was quite complicated because they were surrounded by a double fence that was guarded by Senegalese sharpshooters with fixed bayonets were posted around the perimeter with a soldier every forty feet,
off the field on horseback and soldiers were inside had also just had considerable.Magraner surveillance idea of \u200b\u200bthe place of France than they were and their idea was to escape the camp and head to Paris by any means possible, however with a very fragile health and control than closed, escape was a tremendous risk because if he was surprised should Insulation withstand conditions that arguably could be overcome.
It had been some weeks in the field and the Cubans were organized life captivity, building makeshift shacks in the sand, programmed to kill the routine activities and making trade-offs with their captors for Cuban sobrevivir.Los used to spend time singing and making beats with cans, and one of those days in which the impromptu session went Tone, John Magro saw the opportunity to try the Cuban huida.Los touched and played with a rhythm more and more contagious to the point that some of the Senegalese who guarded them joined the party and relaxed
surveillance. was That's when Magraner took advantage to slide under the wire, were
approximately eleven mañana.Otro Italian prisoner who observed the maneuvers followed, both were dragged through the bushes a hundred yards until you reach a small stream that flowed outside the campo.Cuando reached the river began to take its course without stopping until they felt that they had been caught in their flight and an hour later were found in the open in an area where a group of laborers working at the state that where were those two fugitives were given food and told them how they could reach the city of Perpignan avoiding the roads that were controlled by police and the army francés.Continuaron their flight through mountains until they found a young English man who had also fled and was installed in a cueva.Este meeting allowed rectify its path and achieve without being descubiertos.LLegaron Perpignan to the city about eight o'clock at night, took just nine hours without stopping, exhausted and not quite knowing what to do.
first thing they did was to seek an office at that point was already working in Perpignan to help the refugees españoles.Nada entering, Magraner recognized the daughter who was his immediate superior at the Castle of Figueras on the accompanying another acquaintance who had taken to move some of the arms shipments from reaching them Francia.El meeting was disappointing for known fugitives since they said they could not help because there were large penalties and even jail for those providing assistance to the fugitivos.Aquello ended in a heated discussion, but there was no time to lose, and was night in Perpignan, were hungry, dirty and were easy prey for the police indicated that very francesa.Les nearly had a soup kitchen and went thither rapidamente.Nada arrived, Magro was approached by an Argentine fighter Mario, who had shared with him a few days on the front as a member of the Brigades was also Internacionales.Mario fled and nothing on sight in the Italian company, took him aside and warned him about his breakaway companion whom I knew and that I was certain that he worked for the Gestapo.Magraner reacted quickly and took all sorts of excuses to get rid of him Italian.
The soup kitchen and Mario Magro came with the intention of bringing to fruition his escape, but the truth was that they had nowhere to go, do not know anyone and what was worse, spend the night without being discovered was especially difficult in a city like Perpignan that at that time kept a tight grip policial.Tras a few laps on the outskirts of the city decided to get into a truck parked with the intention to gain time without being discovered, but just had boarded the vehicle a man approached them said not to worry, that was the watchman of the area and that they sought ayudaría.Este unknown a couple of blankets and left to call upon the early hours of the uncertain madrugada.Aunque spent a few hours wondering about the possibility of actually the watchman would denounce them, it was not, and five in the morning came back to the truck to say that they should leave before being discovered.
The fugitives went back to the streets of Perpignan with the clear idea away as possible from this city and find a safer place to continue your adventure
. Lacking money, Mario had a chain and a bracelet decided to go to a pawnshop where he managed some francos.Lo next was to buy some food, went on a dairy farm where they served some coffee with milk and buttered buns, a real treat for those men, but were extremely diminishment, bearded and sucios.Se went to a barbershop and asked to be shaved and a cut of pelo.En that was when the doors of the barbershop automovil.Magraner stopped for a shave that was already being felt a terrible panic thinking it was the police who had discovered, but once else had the luck and the vehicle fell lado.Del hombre.Estaban about to run out of the barber shop when the man called his name asking quiet, it was the mayor of Ales, the communist deputy who had helped Magraner to his arrival in France and appeared again as cielo.Tras fallen from a long conversation in which the fugitives recounted their ordeal, left Perpignan alcalde.Magraner auto board said its goal was to reach the town of Saint Laurent de Argouse Gard where he lived a Frenchman who had fought in the Brigades Magraner Internacionales.Aún in Perpignan, the mayor took them to a discreet hotel Outside the city, owned by an acquaintance to whom requested that feeds and clothes and especially to take care that they were not more than twenty-four descubiertos.Llevaban hours of flight, but the intensity of those events made them feel
who had spent half a day semanas.A the following day, the mayor of Ales was presented again with his car, which went walking a hundred miles until they reached the city of Nimes and once there, he telephoned the mayor of Saint Laurent de Argouse, another communist friend who explained the situation asking for their assistance to which this is prestó.Finalmente took them to the town agreed, and after leaving them under the protection of the mayor said goodbye to ambos.Una time Argouse Saint laurent, Magro tried to contact his old comrade but this was not in town so we had to improvisar.Mario, Argentina went to Marseille and Magraner own decision, the mayor sought accommodation in a remote farm town that was owned by a English old man who had spent half his life in Cuba. Magraner spent about two months in that place that gave him a great deal and could recover some of their battered fuerzas.Cada night was visited by the mayor and other Communists who helped him contact his family in Cuba, these documents and made him get 100 pesos cubanos.Hay to keep in mind that Magraner like other fighters who had come to France through the International Brigades
lost his arrival documentation when they was required by those responsible for new documents Brigadas.Con persuaded the Cuban consulate issued with a passport that would allow him to return to Cuba.Un Sunday morning, his friend the mayor was accompanied to the station, gave him a ticket to Paris and dismissed him with emoción.Magraner traveled for twenty hours crossed the country from south to north until they finally reached the capital francesa.En station waiting for him some members of the PCF he was transferred to premises of the party and from there made contact with old acquaintances of those who succored Lincoln Brigade in básico.Le offered up as a sailing ship that was bound for New York, but Magro was decided to return to Cuba so that it located Félix Pita Rodríguez who remained in Paris now coordinating the return of combatants to Cuba.En Paris just spent a few days since the May 13, 1939 embarked in the port of Le Havre in the steam Orduña, the same who had brought dozens of compatriots to France, many of whom are no longer two-week journey volverían.Tras arrived at the port of Havana on 27 mayo.Llegó to Havana in an expedition organized from Cuba by the Committee for Repatriation for the return of combatants so that the port was a party to welcome young people who had been through hell in Spain francés.Magraner purgatory and then immediately entered a hospital with a serious lung condition, but saved the passing vida.Hubo convalescence until January 1940.Juan Magraner lived the rest of his life in Cuba where he died in late eighties.
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