Ponzán group

The Ponzán group was an organization of guides and couriers, made up mainly of Spanish anarchists, which operated in Southern France and in Spain during World War II. It took its name from Francisco Ponzán Vidal, the one who was mainly responsible for the group. Its center of operations was located in Toulouse.

Ponzán Group
Grupo Ponzán
LeaderFrancisco Ponzán Vidal
Country Spain
IdeologyAnarchism
Political positionFar-left
Part of Spanish Resistance
Allies United Nations:
Opponents

History

The Ponzán Group worked with the French, Belgian and, above all, British secret services. In the context of the war and occupied France, the Allies needed to have clandestine crossings along the Spanish border that would allow people in danger (particularly airmen shot down on French soil) to evade capture and to conduct couriers to their embassies and consulates. The anarchists of the Ponzán Group wanted to extend and strengthen the fight against Franco on all possible fronts and the collaboration with the allied secret services provided them with funding, weapons and contacts.

The misgivings were mutual. In the words of Albert Guérisse, head of the English "Pat O'Leary escape network":

“Vidal always greeted Pat like a brother. A man who never said he could do anything without promptly carrying it out, he did not particularly like the English, the Germans, or the French, regarding them all as so many pawns in his own game of undermining the Franco régime and replacing it with anarchy. He had one complaint against life. It did not yield him enough arms. He needed, he continually said to Pat, more revolvers, more rifles, and perhaps if it could be managed, an occasional machine-gun.”[1]

Robert Terres, a French agent, referred to the members of the Ponzán Group as:

“Recruited (by the English) in the border regions among the most irreducible and most idealistic elements of the anti-fascist refugees determined to continue the fight against Franco and ready to accept any help (...) in the form of protection and money.”[2]

Agustín Remiro, arrested and sentenced to death after a Ponzán Group mission in Spain and Portugal, wrote in a letter addressed to López (probably Eusebio López Laguarta) from the Madrid prison:

"Don't trust the English, they are scoundrels (...) and they only want us to exploit our will. I am not spiteful, no, I am only speaking to you so that you are not victims of those responsible for Spanish pain."[3]

Outstanding collaborators of the Group, in addition to Francisco Ponzán, included: Pilar Ponzán, Joan Català, Floreal Barberà, Palmira Pla Pechovierto, Juan Manuel Barrabés, Juan Zafón, Manuel Huet, Josep Ester Borràs, Agustín Remiro, Vicente Moriones, Miguel Chueca, Amadeo Casares, Eusebio López Laguarta.

The Group participated in the evasion of around three thousand people and provided an indefinite number of mail services.

See also

References
  1. Brome, Vincent (1958). "7". The Way Back. The Story of Lieut-Commander Pat O'Leary. London: Companion Book Club. p. 87–88. OCLC 917695707.
  2. Robert Terres, ed. (1977). Double jeu pour la France 1939-1944 (in French). Paris: Bernard Grasset. OCLC 833936309.
  3. Téllez, Antonio (2006). Agustín Remiro. De la guerrilla confederal a los servicios secretos británicos (in Spanish). Zaragoza: Provincial Council of Zaragoza. OCLC 74880648.

Bibliography
  • Téllez, Antoni (1996). La red de evasión del Grupo Ponzán (in Spanish). Barcelona: Virus. ISBN 978-84-88455-29-1. OCLC 914756442.
  • Calvet, Josep (2008). Les muntanyes de la llibertat (in Catalan). Barcelona: L'Avenç. ISBN 978-84-88839-27-5. OCLC 276810103.
  • Ponzán, Pilar (1996). Lucha y Muerte por la Libertad : Memorias de 9 años de guerra: 1936-1945 (in Spanish). Barcelona: Tot Editorial. ISBN 9788460548676. OCLC 1187082833.
  • Faligot, Roger (1982). Les services spéciaux de Sa Majesté. La Vérité vraie (in French). Paris: Temps Actuels. ISBN 9782201015809. OCLC 9093276.
  • Garder, Michel (1967). La guerre secrete des Services Speciaux français (1935-1945) (in French). Paris: Plon. OCLC 987387488.
  • Nouveau, Louis H (1958). Des capitaines par milliers (in French). Paris: Calmann-Lévy. OCLC 81780372.
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