ABSTRACT
A Jew from Bukovina who had joined the Red Army in 1917 and was known in Spain as Lazar Kleber, Stern had arrived in Madrid as the commander of the XI International Brigade. As the battle of Madrid had died down, so the defenders also began to look to their own organization. Malaga having been the scene of scenes of particular violence during the revolution of the previous summer – taking the province as a whole, 2,600 Nationalist sympathizers are believed to have been murdered, including some 270 prisoners who were put to death in reprisal for enemy air raids – the victors were in no mood to show mercy. On the contrary, as commander of the rebel forces, Queipo de Llano had over the course of the autumn and winter been repeatedly threatening the Republicans with the most terrible vengeance and Malaga now felt the full weight of his fury.
