Los Manos: The Story of an Anti-Franco Action Group

Mariano Aguayo Moran (1922-1994) was one of the members of the ‘Los Manos’ group. This group of friends from Zaragoza joined together to fight the Francoist regime in the optimistic days after the second world war. Originally active with the Socialist Youth, they soon joined the anarchist resistance alongside militants like Francisco ‘Quico’ Sabate and Jose Lluis Facerias. Betrayed by one of the group members, Wenceslao Jimenez Orive was seriously wounded in a police ambush in Barcelona on 9 January 1950. Rather than be captured, he took cyanide. Simon Gracia Fleringan, Placido Ortiz Gratal and Victoriano Munoz Treserras were arrested the same day, and executed on 24 December 1950.
These interviews throw light not only on the story of the ‘Los Manos’ group, but the nature, motivations and difficulties of the anarchist resistance to Francoism.