852.00/9181: Telegram
The Ambassador in Spain (Bowers), Then in France, to the Secretary of State
[Received May 1—6:20 p.m.]
635. From Matthews:
36. May 1, 1 p.m. My 30.55 I returned from Madrid last night. I found the Embassy in excellent condition with exception of the room where the shell hit. It is occupied at present only by Ugarte and his wife and I requested them to continue residing there for another few weeks.
The food situation in Madrid is much better than I had expected. One sees in the markets and stores apparently adequate quantities of vegetables, oranges, bread, meat and plenty of fresh fish. The money situation, however, makes it extremely difficult for the poor to purchase their necessities. One sees thousands of apparently unemployed strolling the streets. The housing shortage is most acute.
Large sections of the city and its poorer suburbs have been completely destroyed and to the newcomer it is indeed a saddening sight (I am told that the damage to Madrid is many fold greater than that of Barcelona). Little or nothing has been done as yet in the way of demolition, new construction, or even clearing away the 6-foot thick stone barricades which line many of the streets. In fact except for the constant coming and going of troops and military trucks life seems rather at a standstill. Arrests continue at the rate of 50 or more daily and the work of depuracion is proceeding slowly and methodically increasing the sense of suspense and uneasiness. Out of some four or five thousand “trials” which have taken place in Madrid since its capture I am told that but 50 death sentences have been handed down and only 7 of these so far approved by Franco and carried out. As to the rumors circulating of other secret summary executions I could find no reasonable basis of credence.
Underneath one senses an extreme bitterness of feeling in Madrid which greatly exceeds that of other regions. For the present it is kept below the surface but its existence does not bode well for the future. The Nationalists firmly believe that there were 75,000 private and official assassinations in Madrid alone. Whether or not the figure is exaggerated is of no importance in the present situation. The fact that it is so unanimously believed makes it difficult to visualize any real reconciliation in the near future with those who on their side have poignant memories of bombing, shelling and starvation.
There is in addition the widespread difference of views among the Nationalists (Phalangists, Requetes, and the military “the fifth column” that stayed in Madrid and those who now come in as victors). The younger officers particularly are enjoying their glory and authority and cannot relish the thought of demobilization and possible search for less congenial employment. While I do not wish to overestimate their influence it is this hot-headed irresponsible element which would relish Spanish participation in a European war and on whom Axis [Page 778] methods of persuasion would be most strongly concentrated. Spain’s need for peace, however, and growing realization of her economic weaknesses will constitute too great a deterrent I believe to permit those rasher counsels to prevail. [Matthews.]
Copy to Paris.
- Dated April 25, 8 p.m.; not printed.↩