Francisco Talamantez Oscuro

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Francisco Talamantez Oscuro (1916 - 1939?), born Francisco Talamantez Galvan, was the leader of a student faction that became involved in the fighting in the Spanish Civil War against the Fascist forces of Gen. Francisco Franco, who was supported by dictators Adolf Hitler in Nazi Germany and Benito Mussolini in Italy.

Oscuro led a detachment of former university students called "Los Oscuros" ("The Dark Ones") who were spurred to action by the Luftwaffe Bombing of Gernika, and who fought in a series of battles and sieges over the course of the Spanish Civil War. Although it is known that they suffered heavy casualties, particularly at Madrid and Barcelona, the Los Oscuros battalion never formally surrendered and many of their members appeared to have melted back into the civilian population after the fall of Madrid in 1939.

Oscuro was never captured by the Franco forces, and although there were many rumors about his activities after the war, he may have been killed in action in the final days of the siege of Madrid.