Torturing dissidents of the Francoist regime Melitón Manzanas González (9 June 1909 – 2 August 1968) was a high-ranking police officer in Francoist Spain, known as a torturer and the first planned victim of ETA.
[1][2][3] Manzanas entered the police force in 1938, in Irun, where he established one of his infamous interrogation centres and collaborated with Nazi Germany[1] — he helped the Gestapo to arrest Jews who were trying to escape from occupied France.
[7] Thirty years after his death, Manzanas was awarded the Medal of Civil Merit dedicated to the victims of terrorism by José María Aznar.
Manzanas' service under Franco's regime, the fact that he was known for having used police torture,[1] and the fact that he was not the first torturer rewarded by the Spanish Government raised some controversy about this award.
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