There are various eyewitness accounts and other reports of the massacre of Badajoz , including some from foreign correspondents , such as Jay Allen ( American ) , Mário Neves ( Portuguese ) , and Marcel Dany and René Bru ( French ) ; there are also photographs that survive of the massacre . Today , most historians recognize that Yagüe killed thousands of militiamen and civilians after the fall of the city and burned the corpses because he did n't want to leave enemies , either soldiers or civilians , to the rear of his army . In fact , Yagüe was quoted to have said the following to one Jay T. Whitaker : '' " Of course we shot them - he said to me - what do you expect ? Was I supposed to take 4,000 reds with me as my column advanced , racing against time ? Was I expected to turn them loose in my rear and let them make Badajoz red again ? " '' The massacre at Badajoz was not a unique case in the march of Yagüe 's column from Seville to Badajoz . In every city conquered by Yagüe 's men , many civilians were killed . In fact , over six thousand people were killed in the province of Badajoz alone ( including the city of Badajoz itself ) . Most of the victims were journeymen and farmers , and the wholesale massacre of the populace later became known to the world as Franco 's White Terror
White Terror
White Terror (Spain)
Battle of Badajoz (1936)