Hitler Stopped By Franco

Rating:
Summary: preconception shattering
Review: All of which brings us to the Boyars' excellent historical novel. Having lived in Spain for nearly thirty
years and become friends with folks like their landlady, Franco's daughter, Carmen, they found both
Franco's Spain and Franco's reputation in Spain to be much different within the country than they were
perceived from without. With such connections, the authors were given extraordinary access to
members of Franco's family and inner circle and to former government ministers. They have
combined this access with what was obviously quite extensive research to produce a scrupulously
documented (how often have you read a novel with citations and footnotes) account of how Franco
kept Spain out of the War, focussing on the years from 1940 to 1943, when Spanish acquiescence to
Hitler's demands would have allowed Axis forces to use the Spanish coast as a staging area for an attack
on Gibraltar and eventually complete control of the Mediterranean and North Africa.

The weaknesses of the book are mostly a function of the task it is trying to perform. Characters are
required to recite large chunks of historical background, which is obviously artificial and somewhat
pedantic, but is also probably the most effective way of conveying the necessary information (it is
certainly less disruptive than the technique that Herman Wouk used in Winds of War, where he
interspersed chapters of an imaginary history of WWII). And in almost every instance, the authors
give Franco the benefit of the doubt in regards to his motivations and the farsightedness of his vision.
This creates the impression, which even I find unlikely, that he never seriously considered joining the
Axis and intended all along to simply hold Hitler at bay until America joined the War and swung the
balance of power.

On the other hand, Franco has been treated so viciously by almost every other author (H. G. Wells
called him the "murderous little Christian gentleman"), that it's hard to begrudge one overly favorable
treatment. Moreover, it is entirely plausible that Franco, who had after all fought to preserve a
traditional Spain, based on Church, Crown, and commerce, never seriously intended to allow the Nazis
a free hand in Spain. No true patriot, which Franco must by any measure be considered, would fight
off the Comintern only to put his nation at the disposal of the National Socialists.

Meanwhile, the books strengths are significant. First, there is a very real tension to the story, even
though we know its outcome, as this small and recently wartorn nation holds off Hitler, who is perched
on their border just waiting to pounce. Second, there's the fascination of seeing people like Franco and
Canaris presented as three dimensional beings and as genuine heroes in the resistance to Hitler, rather
than as enemies of humanity, simply because they too were fascists. Finally, books that challenge our
precious preconceived versions of events are so rare that it is always a good thing when one, especially
a really good one, comes along.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent Account of a Forgotten Piece of History
Review: Having been raised with the "conventional" wisdom of World War II, I always thought of Franco as a bad guy given the involvement of the Italians and Germans on his side in the Spanish Civil War. This book opened my eyes to the plight of the Spaniards after the Civil War, and the amazing juggling act Franco pulled off to keep Spain out of the war. Franco showed tremendous courage and ingenuity to resist the incredible pressure brought to bear by the Germans to bring Spain into the war, which would have allowed German troops to pass through Spain and capture Gibraltar. The German capture of Gibraltar in 1940 would have had catastrophic implications for the British and allowed the Germans to dominate the Mediterranean and Northern Africa. I would highly recommend this book to anyone with an interest in World War II, and congratulate the authors for bringing this little known story to light.

Rating:
Summary: Will do much to reveal Franco
Review: Hitler Stopped By Franco is the true and documented history of how, in 1939, the Spanish Fascist General Franco prevented Adolf Hitler from moving 20 divisions of the German Wehrmacht out of Spain for three years and defied him (at great risk) by providing 60,000 Jews with refuge and asylum in Spain while the Nazi Holocaust was in full sway throughout the rest of German occupied Europe. Franco is not a popular figure in the west. The Russians hated him because he was unrelentingly anti-Communist and defeated the socialist coalitions in the Spanish Civil War. The Americans didn't like him because of his suppressive and oppressive regime. But with the quiet support of Admiral Wilhem Canaris (Germany's highest ranking spy) Franco successfully fended off Hitler's urgent demands to let German troops occupy Spain as a path to Gibraltar and thereby close off the Mediterranean to British shipping. A fact that played large in the Allied defeat of German and Italian forces in North Africa and the Mediterranean. Hitler Stopped By Franco is very highly recommended reading for students of World War II and will do much to reveal Franco, while an unabashed totalitarian fascist, was no friend of Adolf Hitler, and a stalwart benefactor of the Jews the Nazis had marked for extermination.

Rating:
Summary: Franciso Franco: Protector of Sephardic Jews
Review: Many have the true notion that Spanish Dictator Francisco Franco craftily prevented his Civil War ally Adolf Hitler from marching 20 divisions through Spain in World War II and occupying British controlled Gibraltar. This prevented the Axis from sealing off the western end of the Mediterranean and made a major contribution to ultimate Allied victory.

What many may, however, learn for the first time in the Jane and Bert Boyars' 2001 documentary novel HITLER STOPPED BY FRANCO is that Franco also got away with provoking Hitler by his bold assistance to Jews.

An introductory quote (p. 104): "The Sephardim, Jews of Spain and Portugal, had not seen Spain since Ferdinand and Isabella had expelled them in 1492 after giving them the opportunity to remain by becoming true Catholics."

Franco's positive attitude towards Jews is at least six years older than Hitler's 1933 rise to power in Germany. As early as 1927 as a fighting Colonel commanding thousands of men in Spanish Morocco, Francisco Franco received permission from Madrid to use his troops to protect from Muslims the local Sephardic Jews. The Sephardic community was grateful and in 1936 supported Franco with money at the beginning of the Spanish Civil War.

In 1927 Spanish dictator Primo de Rivera had also told Franco that Sephardic Jews might return to Spain, become citizens and worship as they pleased. This invitation was deep in Franco's memory when, in 1940, French Jews began beseeching Spanish authorities in Vichy France for asylum on the basis of Spanish citizenship. (p. 104)

As told by Franco's wife to the authors, Franco then briefly but decisively mulled over what to do. "...I have sworn to give my life protecting Spaniards." (p. 105)

After prayer, Franco authorized issuing Spanish passports to Sephardim as their right under Spanish law. Asked by consular officials how to tell Sephardim from non-Sephardim, Franco ruled, "They are all Sephardim."

By September 1940 Hitler was pressuring Franco to cede to Germany one of the Canary Islands and to allow the Wehrmacht to march on Gibraltar through Spain. (p.106)

By November 1940 Hitler told Serrano Suner, Franco's brother-in-law, that he had at the moment 186 inactive German divisions and he intended to use some of them to take Gibraltar. Nor had he failed to notice Franco's Jewish policy. "Spanish passports are being issued to Jews who have never seen Spain, nor have their ancestors in precisely 448 years. ... Suddenly French are Spanish. And from Poland suddenly Poles are Spaniards. And in Denmark and the Netherlands ... overnight my enemies have Spanish passports and are able to leave my jurisdiction." (p. 159)

And leave they did. Nor did Jews ever forget that Franco was their benefactor. For the rest of this little known story -- and for much more-- read HITLER STOPPED BY FRANCO.

-OOO-

Rating:
Summary: Franciso Franco: Protector of Sephardic Jews
Review: Many have the true notion that Spanish Dictator Francisco Franco craftily prevented his Civil War ally Adolf Hitler from marching 20 divisions through Spain in World War II and occupying British controlled Gibraltar. This prevented the Axis from sealing off the western end of the Mediterranean and made a major contribution to ultimate Allied victory.

What many may, however, learn for the first time in the Jane and Bert Boyars' 2001 documentary novel HITLER STOPPED BY FRANCO is that Franco also got away with provoking Hitler by his bold assistance to Jews.

An introductory quote (p. 104): "The Sephardim, Jews of Spain and Portugal, had not seen Spain since Ferdinand and Isabella had expelled them in 1492 after giving them the opportunity to remain by becoming true Catholics."

Franco's positive attitude towards Jews is at least six years older than Hitler's 1933 rise to power in Germany. As early as 1927 as a fighting Colonel commanding thousands of men in Spanish Morocco, Francisco Franco received permission from Madrid to use his troops to protect from Muslims the local Sephardic Jews. The Sephardic community was grateful and in 1936 supported Franco with money at the beginning of the Spanish Civil War.

In 1927 Spanish dictator Primo de Rivera had also told Franco that Sephardic Jews might return to Spain, become citizens and worship as they pleased. This invitation was deep in Franco's memory when, in 1940, French Jews began beseeching Spanish authorities in Vichy France for asylum on the basis of Spanish citizenship. (p. 104)

As told by Franco's wife to the authors, Franco then briefly but decisively mulled over what to do. "...I have sworn to give my life protecting Spaniards." (p. 105)

After prayer, Franco authorized issuing Spanish passports to Sephardim as their right under Spanish law. Asked by consular officials how to tell Sephardim from non-Sephardim, Franco ruled, "They are all Sephardim."

By September 1940 Hitler was pressuring Franco to cede to Germany one of the Canary Islands and to allow the Wehrmacht to march on Gibraltar through Spain. (p.106)

By November 1940 Hitler told Serrano Suner, Franco's brother-in-law, that he had at the moment 186 inactive German divisions and he intended to use some of them to take Gibraltar. Nor had he failed to notice Franco's Jewish policy. "Spanish passports are being issued to Jews who have never seen Spain, nor have their ancestors in precisely 448 years. ... Suddenly French are Spanish. And from Poland suddenly Poles are Spaniards. And in Denmark and the Netherlands ... overnight my enemies have Spanish passports and are able to leave my jurisdiction." (p. 159)

And leave they did. Nor did Jews ever forget that Franco was their benefactor. For the rest of this little known story -- and for much more-- read HITLER STOPPED BY FRANCO.

-OOO-

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful read. Incredible accuracy. Franco saved Humankind!
Review: This book has so many great moments that I cannot list them all here without getting close to rewrite the full book again! FIRST GREAT MOMENT: The authors fictional depiction of how the world could be now. Just imagine this: A svastika flag over the White House! And, you know? If Franco hasn't stopped Hitler we could probably living that nightmare nowadays! SECOND GREAT MOMENT: The very beginning of the book, when you grasp a taste of the narrative style. Just begining to read it you KNOW you are going to enjoy it. THIRD GREAT MOMENT: Of course, the historical meeting at Hitler's train in the Spain's border at Irun-Hendaye. The fact that the authors could interview and tape record directly the only survivor from that reunion (Serrano Suñer) gives this chapter an incredible significance! FOURTH GREAT MOMENT: When you discover that the misterious man helping Franco with information on Germany's most secret moves was, actually, German admiral Canaris. Great scene! FIFTH GREAT MOMENT (AMONG DOZENS OF OTHERS): When the Allies and the Germans seem to be ready to invade Spain, and Franco is, in the middle of all that tension JUST OIL PAINTING!

Another important thing is to read and confirm that PRESS manipulation has always existed. It's incredible how that time media were totally biased and misinforming about the realities of Spain, and about the real character of Franco. This book is not only about a circumstance that did change History. This book could and SHOULD change the perception people have of Franco himself. But go ask the jews: they just call him the GREATEST benefactor of the jews amidst the WWII havoc.

Go read it. At the appendix's part after the end of the book, you can confirm that it is totally and painfully documented. But, besides its factual ground, it is a wonderful novel to read. Oh! And prepare to enjoy the tension, like in any good thriller, even when you know the final outcome of events. Five stars, for this book, absolutely!...

Rating:
Summary: Very revealing! Amazing historical information !
Review: This book is certainly a most amazing and remarkable feat.It reveals quite a number of historical events and facts that demolish many myths and prejudices regarding Francisco Franco.Especially interesting is his protection of the many hundreds,perhaps thousands,of persecuted Jews in the face of Hitler's monstrous nazi death onslaught.Franco's handling of the WWII "Axis of Evil",his retaining Spain out of the war in spite of ominous and overwhelming pressures,his almost unique humanitarian and compassionate assistance to the to- be- murdered Jewish people,his patriotism and devotion to Spain and rock solid serenity in the face of great dangers is well documented and source supported in this book.What a pity that these achievements have received such little attention!Could it have been that Communism enormous propaganda resources did'nt take kindly to Franco's defeat of its attempt to take over Spain?.....Bravo for the Boyars!!!!

Rating:
Summary: Franco did Allies a favor by staying out of the war
Review: This is an unusual history book written in the format of a novel. This makes the book very readable and presents the historical figures in a more lifelike way than the usual dry history books. The material for this book is drawn from historical records, documents, and interviews with surviving members of Franco's family and retired officials of the Spanish government.

I have always wondered why Franco and Spain did not enter the war on the side of the Axes and this book gives a good answer: Franco was for the survival of Spain. Spain had just ended a savage civil war with over one million dead. The country's infrastructure was on the verge of collapse and the population was on the brink of starvation. Spain owed huge debts and the army did not have the equipment or supplies to enter any conflict. Franco had to seem to favor the Axis and played a very dangerous game with Hitler, keeping him believing that as soon as possible, Spain would enter the war. Franco was a cleaver fox and knew how to play the game of words as a means of delay.

Hitler badly wanted Gibraltar and Franco refused to let him move troops through Spain to capture it. Enraged, Hitler moved 20 divisions of the German Army to the Spanish border, but Franco refused to be intimidated. He moved his own troops to the border and poured concrete bunkers (Spain had no shortage of concrete) and threatened Hitler with guerrilla war. Hitler realized that it would be too costly to wage that kind of war and backed off, eventually having to withdraw his army for use against the Russians.

If Franco had allied Spain with the Axis and given Hitler the doorway to the Mediterranean, the results would have been disastrous for the Allies. Franco did us a huge favor by remaining neutral and keeping his country from German occupation.