Ángel Marcos Salas (1904–1988) was a

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

mechanic A mechanic is a skilled tradesperson who uses tools to build, maintain, or repair machinery, especially engines. Formerly, the term meant any member of the handicraft trades, but by the early 20th century, it had come to mean one who works w ...

trade unionist A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...

and

militia A militia ( ) is a military or paramilitary force that comprises civilian members, as opposed to a professional standing army of regular, full-time military personnel. Militias may be raised in times of need to support regular troops or se ...

man who fought in the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

Biography

Ángel Marcos Salas was born into a

working class The working class is a subset of employees who are compensated with wage or salary-based contracts, whose exact membership varies from definition to definition. Members of the working class rely primarily upon earnings from wage labour. Most c ...

family in

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

, in 1904. At the age of 19, he went to work at the

Madrid, Zaragoza and Alicante railway The Madrid, Zaragoza and Alicante railway (MZA) - also known in Spanish language, Spanish as ''Compañía de los ferrocarriles de Madrid a Zaragoza y a Alicante'' - was a Spanish railway company founded in 1856 that became one of the most importa ...

. Soon after, he became member of the railworkers' union of the

National Confederation of Labour National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...

(CNT). In July 1936, after the outbreak of the

, he was appointed a member of the Confederal Committee at the

Madrid Atocha railway station Madrid Atocha (), also named Madrid Puerta de Atocha–Almudena Grandes, is the oldest major railway station in Madrid. It is the largest station serving commuter trains (Cercanías Madrid, ''Cercanías''), regional trains from the south and sou ...

. He later joined the

Rosal Column The Rosal Column () was a column of the confederal militias that fought in the Spanish Civil War. The column was established by anarchists in Madrid, following the Spanish coup of July 1936, and was led by the trade unionist Cipriano Mera and l ...

, and went on to command a

centuria ''Centuria'' (; : ''centuriae'') is a Latin term (from the stem ''centum'' meaning one hundred) denoting military units originally consisting of 100 men. The size of the centuria changed over time, and from the first century BC through most of ...

within it. After the militarisation of the

confederal militias The confederal militias were a movement of people's militia during the Spanish Civil War organized by the Spanish anarchist movement: the National Confederation of Labor (CNT) and the Iberian Anarchist Federation (FAI). The CNT militias repl ...

, he joined the political commissariat of the

Spanish Republican Army The Spanish Republican Army () was the main branch of the Spanish Republican Armed Forces, Armed Forces of the Second Spanish Republic between 1931 and 1939. It became known as People's Army of the Republic (''Ejército Popular de la República'' ...

. He came to serve as

commissar Commissar (or sometimes ''Kommissar'') is an English transliteration of the Russian (''komissar''), which means ' commissary'. In English, the transliteration ''commissar'' often refers specifically to the political commissars of Soviet and ...

of the 30th, 80th and 140th Mixed Brigades, within which he fought in the

Battle of the Ebro The Battle of the Ebro (, ) was the longest and largest battle of the Spanish Civil War and the greatest, in terms of manpower, logistics and material ever fought on Spanish soil. It took place between July and November 1938, with fighting mainly ...

. After the end of the war he went into exile in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, where he was interned in a

concentration camp A concentration camp is a prison or other facility used for the internment of political prisoners or politically targeted demographics, such as members of national or ethnic minority groups, on the grounds of national security, or for exploitati ...

. In 1941, he went to work as a mechanic at an aircraft plant in Tolosa. He worked there for 25 years, before retiring in 1966. He remained active within the exiled Spanish anarchist movement, as a member of the CNT's National Federation of the Railway Industry (FNIF). He sided with the CNT's reformist faction when it split and was a delegate to its subcomittee in London. He also acted on the council of the in Toulouse. After the reunification of the CNT, in 1969, he was expelled from the organisation. Marcos Salas died in Tolosa on 12 December 1988.

References

Bibliography

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Marcos Salas, Angel 1904 births 1988 deaths Aircraft mechanics Confederación Nacional del Trabajo members Exiles of the Spanish Civil War in France People from Madrid People in rail transport Spanish military personnel of the Spanish Civil War (Republican faction)