The night of September 4, 1936, was the busiest for the execution squad. In the Manacor cemetery, a recently arrived Italian fascist, Count Rossi, gave orders to obedient young men who fired at shadows. The parade seemed endless. Dozens of militiamen defeated after the battle of the Bayo landing crawled before falling riddled with bullets. The next batch was already ready. A light illuminated a woman walking towards the firing squad, and a member of the squad shuddered. He took a step forward and confessed: "I cannot shoot. She is my sister." The commander ordered the young man removed from the group and the work to continue. After a few seconds, "Fire!" was heard again, and she too fell.
This macabre story, that of a falangist who left an execution squad to avoid shooting his own sister, is part of the popular legends of Manacor and Sant Llorenç des Cardassar. It has been told by word of mouth among neighbors for 90 years. It is, possibly, the most terrifying example of the repression of the war in the Balearic Islands: what strange madness can lead a people to face two siblings at a firing squad?
This event does not appear, obviously, in any military report, but it does appear in books based on oral sources, such as Vint dies de guerra by Tomeu Ferrer, or Els rojos ja són aquí! by Rafel Perelló. The latter includes the story from one of the oldest residents of Son Carrió, Maria Brunet Vives. In an interview, she recounted that "a falangist who was in Son Coletes said: 'I cannot shoot,' because his sister was in the line." Rafel replied: "But they must have removed his sister from the line!" And Maria explained that "no, he did not defend her and they killed her. That was a disaster beyond measure."
According to all indications, that woman was Magdalena Bassa Galmés, a 28-year-old woman from Manacor, who had nothing to do with politics. Her crime had been to protect her husband, who was being sought for allegedly looting the church of Son Carrió. As they couldn't find him, they paid with her. According to historians Antoni Tugores and Josep Cortès, they raped her under the train bridge, at the gates of Manacor. Afterwards, they locked her up in the Escola Graduada with the five captured militiamen after the battle and executed her on the night of September 4. The rest of the captured militiamen, about 80, were also executed.
When Magdalena's husband, Jaume Carrió Bauzá, learned of his wife's fate, he decided to commit suicide before being caught. Llorenç Capellà published the message he left for his father: "If I hang myself, it is because I do not want to die humiliated in the streets of Manacor." The bodies of Jaume and his wife Magdalena remain missing today. A few years ago, two memorial stones with their names were placed at the entrance of the church of Son Carrió.
The enigma of the brother remains. Who was this young man who left the squad? In the press of the time, I found a Bartomeu Bassa Galmés who served as an infantry soldier on the nationalist side in 1938. Magdalena had a daughter named Bárbara Carrió Bassa, only 4 years old, who, if still alive today, would be 94 years old. I would like to contact her family to confirm this terrible story: manuelaguilerapovedano@gmail.com.
