¿Eran los rusos culpables? Imagen del enemigo y políticas de ocupación de la División Azul en el frente del este, 1941-1944

Abstract

Within the general framework of the war of extermination planned by the Third Reich in its war against the Soviet Union, this essay attempts to analyse the role played by the Spanish Volunteer Division (the «Blue Division») that was dispatched to the Eastern Front between 1941 and 1944. After deconstructing the image of the Spanish experience in Russia transmitted from 1943 to the present day in autobiographies and novels written by war veterans, the article addresses the question of how far has the Spanish Division differed in its policy of occupation from troops in the Wehrmacht. Two points are therefore outlined: first, the image of the enemy which was developed by the Spanish volunteers, which was not permeated by biological racism but to a certain extent by a feeling of cultural superiority; and second, the Blue Division´s behaviour towards the Russian civil population. The sources used are autobiographical accounts written by Spanish veterans, war diaries and letters written by German and Spanish soldiers as well as by Russian civilians, along with oral interviews with Russian peasants.