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This is a thread for memorialising those who displayed exceptional bravery in the struggle against communism. I will be posting a series of short bios with links of information for the stories of people, some who lived and some who died, who proved themselves heroes of freedom and their countries when forced to struggle against the mendacious evil of advancing worldwide communism during the 20th century. Without these people, we would not be free today.
José Moscardó e Ituarte, 1st Count of the Alcázar of Toledo, Grandee of Spain
When José Moscardó was born, he was not a Grandee of Spain. He would earn that for the inestimable deed which was reflected in the noble title that it won him: The Defence of the Alcázar of Toledo. He was serving as the Governor of Toledo when in the summer of 1936, the horrible bloodletting that was to be the Spanish Civil War began. As the country chose its sides, for Colonel José Moscardó, a life-long military officer and deeply faithful Catholic, the understanding that Communism was an evil ideology of atheism and murder left him with an easy choice governed by his faith and his moral principles. He sided with General Franco because this was a moral requirement of being a man of God. Opening the gates of the ancient medieval fortress, the Alcázar of Toledo, he gathered a force of 800 Guardia Civil (paramilitary police), 6 cadets of the military academy, 100 civilian Army civil servants, and 200 civilians from right-wing political parties. They had abundant ammunition, but were armed with only rifles and grenades and a few old machine guns. With them were 670 non-combatants: 500 women, 50 children, and a hundred and twenty aged who had fled the imposition of Bolshevik terror across central Spain.
On the 21st of July, the Captain of the Military Academy read a declaration of a state of war in the central square of the city of Toledo, and the left-wing head of the local prison was arrested by the defenders. The first clash came as they retreated through the city from the Arms Factory to the Alcázar itself, falling back into the old medieval walls with the large quantity of ammunition that they had seized for its defence. On the next day, the 22nd of July, the communists brought up heavy artillery and began to shell the old medieval walls of the Alcázar. The shelling continued into the early dawn of the 23rd of July before it fell away.
And on the 23rd of July in the early morning, Colonel Moscardó received a phone call that would change his life forever. It was from Commissar Cándido Cabello of the local communist forces, who before the war had been a barrister. The Commissar told the Colonel that unless he immediately surrendered the Alcázar, his son, who had been taken into custody by the communists, would be shot. Colonel Moscardó ignored the threat, and when the Commissar insisted, he was put through to his son, leading to the following immortal exchange:
Luis died like a hero, shot by the communists a few weeks later as the siege went on. Colonel Moscardó emerged from his office, not knowing when or how his son would die, but knowing he had condemned his son to death for the sake of his men and the 670 innocent civilians that they were collectively defending from the Bolshevik tyranny. He had been asked to make the ultimate sacrifice, to live while he condemned his child to death for the greater purpose, a greater service to life and the innocent. He emerged as white as a sheet from his office, but then resolutely carried on, and his men fought all the harder for him, for in all their privations, how could they think of surrender when the Colonel had already sacrificed his son?
The Colonel's message to Franco that day was simple, factual military situation, nothing more: Sin novedad, "nothing new".
For the next three weeks, the Communists relentlessly shelled the Alcázar. Hammering it into rubble, for three weeks the defenders endured the terrible shellfire, emerging from their warrens, holes, tunnels and rubble to deliver a vigorous fire whenever an enemy probe approached the shattered walls, and then retiring to shelter under the relentless, mind-shattering bombardment once again. Not once was surrender considered, and "Sin novedad en el Alcázar" became the rallying cry of those fighting to defend their religion, country, and liberty from communist totalitarianism, as each day the radio report went out from Colonel Moscardó to free Spain.
The siege was only beginning. After three weeks the Communists thought the northern flank of the Alcázar was reduced enough for a general attack, and they threw their troops into it. Colonel Moscardó and his heroes threw them right back. Again and again, for five weeks, attacks concentrated against the weakened Alcázar to overrun it, concentrating against the Military House of Government, which was held as an outpost of the Alcázar on the northern face. Again and again they tried to seize it, and had they done so, they would have been able to mass troops only 40 yards from the Alcázar for a final assault. Instead, heroic efforts drove them back each time--and there were eleven attacks made, all by overwhelming numbers and all defeated.
Finally on September 9th the Communists again requested the Alcázar's surrender. Colonel Moscardó, after six weeks of heavy combat, did have one request, this time: A priest, to baptise two children born in the Alcázar and say Mass. The communists could only find a preacher with left-wing sympathies, but he nonetheless performed baptisms, and inspired by what he saw, issued a General Absolution, to the consternation of the Communists, which greatly improved morale for the defenders.
Now the attackers were advancing mines toward the Alcázar. On September 18th, they detonated the mines in the morning, completely destroying the Southwest tower of the Alcázar, and then launched four simultaneous attacks with tanks and armoured cars in support. The attacks failed on that day, and in response the Communists directed a tremendous bombardment for three days against the Alcázar, greater than all before; the bombardment forced the retreat of the defenders from all the outerworks as they could no longer be supported, and now the entire force was concentrated in the main citadel of the Alcázar.
On September 23rd, the Communists again launched a heavy assault, having occupied the abandoned outerworks the day before. They were once again repulsed in desperate fighting in which they gained the north breach and hurled grenades and dynamite into the heart of the Alcázar, only to be driven back by spirited defence when reserves arrived to stop them from gaining the courtyard of the Alcázar. A fresh assault was then mounted almost immediately, led by a tank. Wave after wave of communists attacked and yet again they were driven back. Finally on September 26th the Nationalist Army had reached Bargas, 4 miles from Toledo. The next day, the Communists launched a continuous, all-out last-ditch assault to overwhelm the Alcázar. Shortly after it began, the Nationalists charged down from Bargas and drove them back, relieving the siege.
Colonel Moscardó had held the Alcázar of Toledo for 68 days before relief arrived. He had sacrificed his own son for the sake of the innocent people he defended from Bolshevik tyranny.
He was showered with honours, titles of nobility, and other glories and medals; but he had lost his only son. His true pride and pleasure later in life was that Franco made him the coach of the Spanish national football (soccer) team, since he had always loved football, and he took great pride at leading young Spanish men in football competition. That was the consolation of his soul in this mortal world for a man who had paid a price worse than life to do his duty by the innocent and make his stand against communism.
Today we may all only hope that we have the courage to stand with Colonel Moscardó and make the declaration "HASTA LA MUERTE!"
A few informational links:
catholicexchange.com
José Moscardó e Ituarte, 1st Count of the Alcázar of Toledo, Grandee of Spain
When José Moscardó was born, he was not a Grandee of Spain. He would earn that for the inestimable deed which was reflected in the noble title that it won him: The Defence of the Alcázar of Toledo. He was serving as the Governor of Toledo when in the summer of 1936, the horrible bloodletting that was to be the Spanish Civil War began. As the country chose its sides, for Colonel José Moscardó, a life-long military officer and deeply faithful Catholic, the understanding that Communism was an evil ideology of atheism and murder left him with an easy choice governed by his faith and his moral principles. He sided with General Franco because this was a moral requirement of being a man of God. Opening the gates of the ancient medieval fortress, the Alcázar of Toledo, he gathered a force of 800 Guardia Civil (paramilitary police), 6 cadets of the military academy, 100 civilian Army civil servants, and 200 civilians from right-wing political parties. They had abundant ammunition, but were armed with only rifles and grenades and a few old machine guns. With them were 670 non-combatants: 500 women, 50 children, and a hundred and twenty aged who had fled the imposition of Bolshevik terror across central Spain.
On the 21st of July, the Captain of the Military Academy read a declaration of a state of war in the central square of the city of Toledo, and the left-wing head of the local prison was arrested by the defenders. The first clash came as they retreated through the city from the Arms Factory to the Alcázar itself, falling back into the old medieval walls with the large quantity of ammunition that they had seized for its defence. On the next day, the 22nd of July, the communists brought up heavy artillery and began to shell the old medieval walls of the Alcázar. The shelling continued into the early dawn of the 23rd of July before it fell away.
And on the 23rd of July in the early morning, Colonel Moscardó received a phone call that would change his life forever. It was from Commissar Cándido Cabello of the local communist forces, who before the war had been a barrister. The Commissar told the Colonel that unless he immediately surrendered the Alcázar, his son, who had been taken into custody by the communists, would be shot. Colonel Moscardó ignored the threat, and when the Commissar insisted, he was put through to his son, leading to the following immortal exchange:
Luis died like a hero, shot by the communists a few weeks later as the siege went on. Colonel Moscardó emerged from his office, not knowing when or how his son would die, but knowing he had condemned his son to death for the sake of his men and the 670 innocent civilians that they were collectively defending from the Bolshevik tyranny. He had been asked to make the ultimate sacrifice, to live while he condemned his child to death for the greater purpose, a greater service to life and the innocent. He emerged as white as a sheet from his office, but then resolutely carried on, and his men fought all the harder for him, for in all their privations, how could they think of surrender when the Colonel had already sacrificed his son?
The Colonel's message to Franco that day was simple, factual military situation, nothing more: Sin novedad, "nothing new".
For the next three weeks, the Communists relentlessly shelled the Alcázar. Hammering it into rubble, for three weeks the defenders endured the terrible shellfire, emerging from their warrens, holes, tunnels and rubble to deliver a vigorous fire whenever an enemy probe approached the shattered walls, and then retiring to shelter under the relentless, mind-shattering bombardment once again. Not once was surrender considered, and "Sin novedad en el Alcázar" became the rallying cry of those fighting to defend their religion, country, and liberty from communist totalitarianism, as each day the radio report went out from Colonel Moscardó to free Spain.
The siege was only beginning. After three weeks the Communists thought the northern flank of the Alcázar was reduced enough for a general attack, and they threw their troops into it. Colonel Moscardó and his heroes threw them right back. Again and again, for five weeks, attacks concentrated against the weakened Alcázar to overrun it, concentrating against the Military House of Government, which was held as an outpost of the Alcázar on the northern face. Again and again they tried to seize it, and had they done so, they would have been able to mass troops only 40 yards from the Alcázar for a final assault. Instead, heroic efforts drove them back each time--and there were eleven attacks made, all by overwhelming numbers and all defeated.
Finally on September 9th the Communists again requested the Alcázar's surrender. Colonel Moscardó, after six weeks of heavy combat, did have one request, this time: A priest, to baptise two children born in the Alcázar and say Mass. The communists could only find a preacher with left-wing sympathies, but he nonetheless performed baptisms, and inspired by what he saw, issued a General Absolution, to the consternation of the Communists, which greatly improved morale for the defenders.
Now the attackers were advancing mines toward the Alcázar. On September 18th, they detonated the mines in the morning, completely destroying the Southwest tower of the Alcázar, and then launched four simultaneous attacks with tanks and armoured cars in support. The attacks failed on that day, and in response the Communists directed a tremendous bombardment for three days against the Alcázar, greater than all before; the bombardment forced the retreat of the defenders from all the outerworks as they could no longer be supported, and now the entire force was concentrated in the main citadel of the Alcázar.
On September 23rd, the Communists again launched a heavy assault, having occupied the abandoned outerworks the day before. They were once again repulsed in desperate fighting in which they gained the north breach and hurled grenades and dynamite into the heart of the Alcázar, only to be driven back by spirited defence when reserves arrived to stop them from gaining the courtyard of the Alcázar. A fresh assault was then mounted almost immediately, led by a tank. Wave after wave of communists attacked and yet again they were driven back. Finally on September 26th the Nationalist Army had reached Bargas, 4 miles from Toledo. The next day, the Communists launched a continuous, all-out last-ditch assault to overwhelm the Alcázar. Shortly after it began, the Nationalists charged down from Bargas and drove them back, relieving the siege.
Colonel Moscardó had held the Alcázar of Toledo for 68 days before relief arrived. He had sacrificed his own son for the sake of the innocent people he defended from Bolshevik tyranny.
He was showered with honours, titles of nobility, and other glories and medals; but he had lost his only son. His true pride and pleasure later in life was that Franco made him the coach of the Spanish national football (soccer) team, since he had always loved football, and he took great pride at leading young Spanish men in football competition. That was the consolation of his soul in this mortal world for a man who had paid a price worse than life to do his duty by the innocent and make his stand against communism.
Today we may all only hope that we have the courage to stand with Colonel Moscardó and make the declaration "HASTA LA MUERTE!"
A few informational links:
Colonel Moscardo and The Siege of the Alcazar of Toledo - Margaret Gallitzin
The Siege of the Alcazar, the siege of toledo, famous incident of Colonel Moscardo and his son, who was killed by the Communist Nationalist forces in an attempt to make the Monarchists and Nationalists surrender, Sin noveldad
www.traditioninaction.org
Unthinkable Sacrifice: The Untold Story of Colonel Moscardó and his Son
It would be easy to visit the Alcázar in Toledo, Spain, and miss one of its most remarkable rooms. After all, there is a lot to see in this massive fortress which is built at the highest point in the city and is the site of Roman ruins from the 3rd Century. It houses a […]
catholicexchange.com
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