Argentine Confederation: Rosas' Gunsmith

Rosas' Gunsmith

Friedrich Nell (1819-1894)

Friedrich Nell was born in Baden-Baden, Germany in 1819. He was a man of great drive and aspirations who, after traveling throughout Germany in the early 1800s, settled in Buenos Aires before 1850.

Nell met the Indians in the area of large ranches of the time, in the vicinity of Dolores (Province of Buenos Aires). Later he moved to San Luis, working in the La Carolina gold mine; He settled in San Luis (Capital) and finally lived in Mendoza, in Alto Verde, near San Martín, where he died in 1894.

Despite not having been a professional – says Puntano geologist Lucero Michaut – he instilled in his children an interest in the German and French languages and in the positive sciences. He had Catholic religious convictions and always despised everything superstitious and lacking logical explanation. He was a man of great personal courage, forming what could be defined as a “guts gringo”, one of those who contributed to forming countries.”

Friedrich Nell arrived in the country around 1846 or 1847. He married in October 1850 in Buenos Aires María Theodore Elisabeth Polte, a German from Hannover, born in 1820, all the witnesses to their marriage being also German, which indicates that at the time There was already an appreciable flow of spontaneous German immigration, without counting men of science who arrived shortly after, from the hierarchy of Germán Burmeister, a true scholar in matters of natural sciences, organizer of the Argentine Museum of Natural Sciences “Bernardino Rivadavia”, and in whose In honor, an Argentine mosquito (Chunga burmeistari), whose popular name is chuña, has been named.

His daughter, Basilia Nell, born in Dolores, Province of Buenos Aires, was the wife of Dr. Adolphe Joseph Michaut, a prestigious French doctor who in 1866 was hired by the Ministry of War and Navy to provide services in the War of the Paraguay.

The informative material provided by Dr. Lucero Michaut includes the Memoirs of Don Carlos Michaut Nell (1) about his maternal grandparents, Friedrich Nell and María Polte, according to the stories he heard in his childhood from their mouths, in family wheel

German Gunsmith in Rosas Service

In the interesting “Memories” it is related that the Nell-Polte couple had an Artistic Blacksmithing Workshop in which spears, sabers and other weapons such as rifles were forged, to supply the cavalry militias called “Los Colorados de Rosas”.

“My grandfather Federico narrated – says Carlos Michaut Nell – that Rosas himself once personally appeared in his workshop, who, after carefully observing the entire existence of weapons prepared and in preparation, left without speaking to anyone.

Both Don Federico and his wife María E. Polte were supporters and sympathizers of Rosas and therefore federalists by conviction and both permanently used the federal currency; The same, which consisted of a wide red ribbon, was worn on the hat by my grandfather and on the “chapeca” that hung on his back, by my grandmother.

Despite this, both the workshop and the house were visited very often by the leaders of La Mazorca, generally by Commander Ciriaco Cuitiño and Andrés Parra, in search of possible Unitarian refugees, who were persecuted to the death. What happened was that La Mazorca systematically distrusted them due to the fact that they were “gringos”, as Cuitiño himself told them in those reviews in which they investigated even the basements.

Don Federico remembered that Cuitiño once showed up with his police group of gauchos with red chiripá and pony boots; Cuitiño was in his shirt sleeves and his right arm was completely stained with the blood of a Unitarian that he had just personally beheaded.

Shortly afterwards, on a date that I cannot specify but which evidently had to be before Caseros, my grandparents decided to sell the workshop and move to the countryside of the province of Buenos Aires, excited to start raising sheep; Thus, they settled in a ranch in the Dolores District, belonging to a rich family with the last name Cisneros; On that ranch my late mother Doña Basilia Nell was born (1858) (who would later marry my father Joseph Adolph Michaut in 1880, in Paso Grande, San Luis).

The Cisneros couple became attached to my grandfather Federico's family and asked my grandmother to name the newborn Basilia and that they were going to be her godparents; Likewise, Mr. Cisneros ordered his butler that every calf that was born male be designated in the name of his “daughter” Basilia. I don't know what purpose that promise had, because on my mother's birth certificate a German Goldschmidt and another person with the last name Adaro, both from Dolores, appear as godfather.

My grandfather said that on two occasions they owed their lives to the punzón currency that they still used permanently while they worked on the aforementioned Cisneros ranch. My grandparents lived in a part of that large ranch, which had been assigned to them, and in which they busily dedicated themselves to raising a huge flock of sheep, for which they occupied an old ranch whose doors were barred shut at night out of fear. to the banditry that at that time devastated the entire national territory.

On two occasions with a very similar development, they were presented with two malones of “pampas Indians”, who upon seeing them wearing the punzón badge did not attack them, since the Indians of that time adored Juan Manuel de Rosas; In fact, the chief shouted to the Indians: “Christian being a federal, not killing, not killing and not stealing, brother, giving capons,” and my grandfather with his blunderbuss on his belt answered them, imitating the Indians' way of expressing themselves: “yes.” , brothers, all grabbing capons, “and there began the mass slaughter until the savages were fed up, after which they withdrew at dawn, keeping their word not to harm them or steal anything from them. While my grandfather had attended to them kindly, trying not to provoke her anger, my grandmother, in desperation, was walking around with a bottle of gin and a jug serving the drink to the chief and her captain, who were very respectful towards her.

The Indians considered Rosas as a kind of ally against the Unitarians, whom they evidently hated with a prevention possibly fueled by him. These malones, upon returning inland, systematically devastated the large ranches belonging to the Unitarians.”

The Three Friedrich Nell Stakes

“About his stay at the ranch, my grandfather always recounted in family gatherings the memory of three mishaps that happened to him there.

One Sunday, my grandfather, like many other residents of that vast countryside, went to a “pulpería” to entertain himself with horse races and card games, on which occasion he had an altercation with one of the gauchos present, whom he stabbed. a strong fist blow; His immediate response was a stab in the lower abdomen. The shopkeeper had him transported to his house where upon entering he simply said “Maria, give me a glass of wine, they have stabbed me, damn it!” The local healers cured him with weed poultices. The word “fuck” was permanently in my grandfather's mouth; He evidently found it very expressive and used it to underline the end of any sentence.

On another occasion - Don Federico said - he was riding his horse along those deserted roads of the region, with the aim of visiting a friend, when suddenly he encountered a group of four semi-wild gauchos who, after making him get off his horse and When they hit him, they told him: “We just killed a gringo and now we are going to kill you.” While some of the assailants pressed him to the ground, another sharpened his knife on a stick at the same time he told him. "I'm going to cut your throat." Then, at the right moment, like a miracle from God, they saw a horseman approaching the great race, before which the bandits released him and mounted their pingos and fled. I say that this happened at the right moment, because one of the savages had my grandfather pulling him by the black beard he wore, or "pear" as it was called, to proceed with the slaughter, while he told them: "Cut quickly, damn it." ”, according to his custom of expressing himself. The person who had arrived so opportunely was a friend of his, very dear and linked to the family by ties of sponsorship that were taken so seriously at that time; This man, like many others in the area, was a very decent gaucho who had assimilated quite a bit of civilization.

On another occasion, while Don Federico was in the same grocery store mentioned, he heard from the locals that nearby there was a place where at night no one dared to walk without being the subject of terrible "scares" or serious accidents. Since my grandfather always used to say that he never knew what fear of anything or anyone was, he assured everyone present that he “planned to go that same night, damn it.” He did so and that night, mounted on his regal pingo, with the faith that he was as good a rider as the best of the gauchos, he went to the aforementioned place in order to personally find out what was true in that mystery that He had terrified the gauchaje of the area, no matter how brave some of them were. Arriving at the place after midnight, he noticed that his horse reared up asking for rein and more rein until suddenly, he received a terrible blow or slap in the face that knocked him off his horse; He fell to the ground with the reins in his hand, which prevented the horse from fleeing, leaving him on foot. Next, Don Federico says, he resolutely shouted: “Hit me again, damn it,” but from then on everything was silent, so he decided to return home, not scared as he said, but very worried about what had happened and because he had not been able to unravel the mistery".

Gold Rush in La Carolina (San Luis)

“Around 1860 (when my mother Basilia was two years old) attracted by the “gold fever” sparked by the discovery of the then rich gold deposits in the “La Carolina-Cañada Honda” area of the province of San Luis , my grandfather decided to leave the Buenos Aires countryside and move with the whole family to the aforementioned place, where the precious metal was extracted both from the sands of the rivers by washing with carob plates, and from quartz veins that carried the same.

Apparently, there he met the Swiss Emile Ruttimann and they worked together for some time. My grandfather and his family stayed in the precarious camp of an abandoned mine long ago and he dedicated himself with all his might to the new task; Unfortunately, and according to their own expressions, the vein developed from top to bottom, requiring the extraction of the metal at increasingly greater depths that came up against the flooding of the works due to the water circulating in fissures in the rock. He finally had to leave the company after heavy financial losses. This situation forced him to move to the capital of the Province (San Luis) where, based on the knowledge acquired about the aforementioned metal, he set up a jewelry business, which allowed him a certain economic recovery.

The stay of the Nell family in the capital of San Luis must have been quite long, since their five children began to go to school and four of them (the three girls and one of the boys) got married there. The three women, Basilia (married in Paso Grande, San Luis, to Dr. Joseph Adolphe Michaut in 1880), Juana (married to Becerra) and María (married to Romanella) were the only blondes who attended the College, so They were called by their companions “the three Marys”; Another of the sons, Pedro, also got married in San Luis and as for the remaining one, Juan, when the whole family moved to their last home (always in that east-west migration so common among foreigners who enter the country ) in San Martín-Buen Orden, Mendoza, he went to Chile where he married, giving rise to a large family; I remember seeing my mother Basilia cry bitterly when she received the news from Chile of the death of her brother Juan de ella, and later after a strong earthquake that occurred in that country, she lost until now all contact with that family branch ; This happened around 1895 or 1896, if I remember correctly.

Once the Nell family (Don Federico, his wife María Theodore E. Polte and the then only unmarried son Juan) moved to Mendoza, my grandfather opened an Artistic Blacksmith Workshop again in a place in the San Martín Department called Alto Salvador; The Michaut-Nell couple, that is, my parents, had already lived in San Martín since 1884, where I was born the following year. Shortly after, we went to live in Alto Alegre, where I remember that grandparents Federico and María Nell visited us very often.

From that time of my childhood so full of pleasant memories due to the almost constant presence of my grandparents and their very interesting stories, I remember very clearly that I once saw him arrive for a visit (I was about 7 years old, so it may have been because 1892) on horseback on his superb dark pingo malacara at full gallop and he made it streak across the patio at the foot of the gallery with his mastery as an accomplished rider, at the same time that his white “perita” (beard) flew over the shoulder; My grandfather would have been around 73 years old at that time.

In his conversations he used to repeat with good Spanish diction, although still with a bit of a German accent, “I'm going to die working, damn it!” And so it was indeed; One day he was working in his Workshop, when he was already 75 years old (in 1894, I think) striking a hot iron, when he suddenly fell on his back, dead of cardiac syncope, with a hot iron held in a clamp in one hand. , and the hammer in the other.

My grandfather Federico was buried in the Buen Orden Cemetery (San Martín), but since at that time there were no permanent niches but rather he was buried directly in the ground, his remains have been lost and it has not been possible to locate the exact place of his burial. his grave; On the other hand, my grandmother María T. E. Polte de Nell, who died in 1904, is currently in a niche in perpetuity, very close to the Pantheon of Dr. Michaut (her son-in-law).

They are descendants of the primitive Nell-Polte branch (my maternal grandparents) the Michaut-Gatica (Buenos Aires and Córdoba), the Lucero-Michaut (Mercedes-San Luis-Córdoba), the Michaut-Ríos-Gutiérrez (San Martín-Mendoza) , all of whom are linked to my mother Basilia Nell de Michaut (1858-1941); From the branch of María Nell de Romanella, among others, the Musset-Romanella (Buenos Aires) descend, from that of Juana Nell de Becerra, there are the Iturralde-Becerra (Buenos Aires); From Pedro, also son of Don Federico, the Barraza-Nells who live in Córdoba descend; As for the descendants of

Reference

(1) Son of the Dr. Joseph Adolphe Michaut and Basilia Nell Polte marriage.

Sources

• Benarós, León – Francisco Nell: Alemán, armero de Rosas y un “gringo de Agallas”.
• Efemérides – Patricios de Vuelta de Obligado
• Michaut Nell, Carlos – “Memorias” – Villa Mercedes, San Luis (1977)
• Portal www.revisionistas.com.ar

Todo es Historia – Año XI, Nº 130, Buenos Aires (1878)

Argentine Army: General Antonio Donovan

Gral. Antonio Donovan

Antonio Dónovan (b. Buenos Aires, April 26, 1849 – † Federal, province of Entre Ríos, August 14, 1897), Argentine soldier who participated in the Paraguayan War, in the last Argentine civil wars and in the campaigns prior to the Conquest of the Desert. He was also governor of the National Territory of Chaco.


Beginnings and the Triple Alliance War
Son of Dr. Cornelius Donovan Crowley and Mary Atkins Brown, in 1863 – after the death of his father – he enrolled in the 2nd Infantry Battalion without authorization from his mother, for which he was discharged by direct order of the Minister of War and Navy, General Gelly and Obes. Shortly after, he managed to obtain maternal authorization and joined the Light Artillery Regiment in July 1864, and was assigned to Martín García Island.
After the Paraguayan invasion of Corrientes he participated in the short-lived reconquest of that city by the forces of General Wenceslao Paunero. Under his command he participated in the battle of Yatay, on August 17, 1865. He also participated in the siege of Uruguayana.
In April of the following year he participated in the capture of the Itapirú Fortress, and in the battles of Estero Bellaco, Tuyutí, Yatayty Corá, Boquerón, Sauce and Curupaytí. On October 31 he was discharged from the Argentine Army, with no reference to the cause left.
He rejoined the Army in June of the following year, in the Line Infantry Battalion No. 2, with the rank of captain. He participated in the campaign in which national forces faced and defeated General Nicanor Cáceres, defender of the legal government of that province. In 1869, his regiment went to Córdoba.
He returned to the Paraguayan front the following May, assigned to various destinations, but did not manage to fight. He returned to Buenos Aires at the end of that year.

López Jordán Rebellion
When Ricardo López Jordán's rebellion broke out in the province of Entre Ríos, he accompanied Colonel Luis María Campos as an assistant, without having communicated that decision to his regiment, which discharged him from it. However, under Campos' orders he participated in the battle of Santa Rosa and other minor combats.
In May 1871, having recently arrived in the province of Buenos Aires, he fought against the indigenous people in the Tapalqué area. Later he passed to Martín García.
In June 1873 he was assigned to Paraná, participating in the fight against López Jordán's second rebellion. In the battle of Don Gonzalo, on December 9 of that year, the infantry under the command of Major Dónovan had a decisive performance in pushing back the federals.
In February of the following year he became assistant to the Minister of War, Martín de Gainza. Under the orders of Colonel Julio Campos he participated in the campaign against the revolutionaries in 1874.
During those years he bought a field in the northern part of the province of Entre Ríos, where the town of Federal would be founded.

Dessert Campaigns and Porteño Rebellion
In February 1875 he went to Gualeguaychú, in Entre Ríos, rising to the rank of lieutenant colonel. In January of the following year, transferred again to Buenos Aires, he participated in the advance of the borders ordered by Minister Adolfo Alsina, participating in the occupation of the strategic point of Carhué, later moving to the garrisons of Puán, Azul and Olavarría. In this last place he led the national troops in a battle against the indigenous chiefs Namuncurá and Juan José Catriel, on August 6, 1876, recovering some 50,000 head of cattle.
He was promoted to the rank of colonel in June 1877. He participated in several more battles against the indigenous people in the following years, and in the advanced expeditions that prepared the Conquest of the Desert in 1879, in which he did not participate due to having been incorporated into the Military College and occupy the garrison of the city of Zárate.
He participated in the repression of the Buenos Aires revolution of 1880, commanding the Infantry Regiment No. 8 in the battles of Puente Alsina and Corrales.

The 1st Infantry Regiment and the Chaco 
In February 1883 he was appointed Chief of the Infantry Regiment No. 1. Two years earlier he had been one of the founders of the Military Circle.
In August 1886 he was promoted to the rank of general, and provisionally placed in command of the 1st Army Division; He was later director of the Artillery Park, Chief of Staff of the forces stationed in Chaco, based in Resistencia. Between 1897 and 1891 he was governor of the National Territory of Chaco, and until the end of 1895 he continued to be the commander of all the military troops of Chaco, later retiring.
He died while he was in Federal on August 14, 1897.
Married to Cándida Rosa Blanco, they had 12 children. His grandson Carlos Alberto Dónovan y Salduna died in an accident, and in his memory the March of Lieutenant Dónovan, used by the Argentine cavalry, was composed.1 

References 

↑ Military march Teniente Dónovan 

Sources

[1] Revisionistas.com biography
Planell Zanone, Oscar J. y Turone, Oscar A., Patricios de Vuelta de Obligado. 
Yaben, Jacinto R., Biografías Argentinas y Sudamericanas, Bs. As., 1938. 

Wikipedia

Argentine Brass Maxim: A Machine Gun of the Steampunk Age

The Maxim Gun was the first successful true machine gun, and it became extremely popular worldwide. Maxim sent his first two working models to Enfield for testing in 1887, and by 1889 he had what he termed the "World Standard" model. No two contracts were quite identical, as the gun was constantly being tweaked and improved, but the 200 guns sold to Argentina in 1895 (50), 1898 (130) and 1902 (20) are a great time capsule into the configuration of the early Maxim guns in military service.

The Argentine Maxims had gorgeous brass jackets, along with ball grips, triggers, feed blocks, and fusee spring covers. The have the early 1889 pattern lock, complete with a walnut roller to assist belt feeding into the action. These guns were in Argentine military service until 1929 (which included a retrofit at DWM in 1909 to use the new Spitzer 7.65mm Mauser cartridge). They then passed into police use until 1956, and 91 were sold to Sam Cummings of InterArms in 1960. Of those, 8 were exported out of the US, 28 went to government agencies and museums, and the remaining 55 were sold onto the US collector market. They are the single largest group of early Maxims in the country today, and make fantastic collectors' pieces.

MBT: The Tanque Argentino Mediano (TAM) Project

1955 Revolution: Calquins and Lincolns Bomb Río Santiago

Actions over Río Santiago

 
Río Santiago Naval Base, shipyards and School (Photo: Isidoro Ruiz Moreno, La Revolución del 55, Tomo II)

At the Naval Base of Río Santiago everything was agitated on the morning of the 16th. The personnel came and went while the officers transmitted orders and proceeded to enforce them.
Since the early hours of the day, a significant number of officers had begun to arrive at the military unit with the idea of joining the movement, notable among them was Lieutenant Commander Eduardo Davidou, commander of the patrol boat “King”; his artillery chief, frigate captain José Fernández and the commander of the “Murature”, lieutenant captain Francisco Pucci. Once there, they found the facilities in full state of alert and taking precautions in anticipation of an attack.
The defense of the area was in charge of Lieutenant Commander Carlos Schliemann, assisted by Army Captain Juan Carlos Ríos and Lieutenants Roberto Wulff de la Fuente and Jorge Osvaldo Lauría.
The cadets, who had been led to the back of the main building, were armed with old Mauser training rifles and several automatic rifles, with patrol platoons assigned to the islands and defensive pickets on the perimeter line of the base and the parade ground, with which an effective defensive cordon was formed.
The vanguard line, composed entirely of elements of the 3rd Marine Regiment under the command of Lieutenant Juan A. Plaza, was located in the area of the silos and grain elevators, in front of the main island, Santiago River in between, reinforced by a section of sailors under the command of Lieutenant Carlos Büsser1, Navy officers and students from the Higher War School.
Command of the operations was assumed by General Juan José Uranga, a brave and determined officer who had subordinated himself to Admiral Rojas, with whom he had a more than cordial relationship. His main concern was the lack of weapons to confront the government forces and the need to resort to the reserve warehouses in which the Ballester Molina 45 caliber semi-automatic carbines with double magazines were kept along with other rifles.


Shortly after receiving the order to enlist, the 120 conscripts of the company commanded by Büsser, supported by an officer and a corporal, boarded the boats and crossed the stream in the direction of the grain elevators. Recently incorporated Army troops were added to them, among them Lieutenant Ibérico Saint Jean, who despite having a higher rank than the sailor, placed himself under his command without hesitation.
While the mobilization was completed, Admiral Rojas ordered the patrol boats “King” and “Murature”, anchored in the side channel, to position themselves in front of the Naval Academy so that, if attacked, they would repel the action with their powerful forces. cannons. In this way, he planned to compensate for the lack of artillery and, therefore, provide adequate cover. Once the directive was given, two tugboats slowly approached them, to hook them up and move them to their new position, a task on which the crews of both vessels worked quickly.
Meanwhile, from La Plata, the loyal forces were mobilizing as quickly as possible, adopting provisions to advance on the naval base.
The governor of the province, Mayor of the Intendencia (RE) Carlos Aloé, had left the government palace to go to the nearby Police Headquarters to take charge of its 700 troops, thereby removing himself from a possible coup d'état by insurgent commandos. The measure was correct because the two military units of the provincial capital, the 7th Infantry Regiment and the 2nd Communications Battalion, were on maneuvers in Magdalena, 70 kilometers to the south and would not arrive in time to begin the advance and contain the rebellious troops.
Knowing the situation, Minister Lucero ordered urgent defensive measures, ordering the immediate return of the units, as well as the 2nd Artillery Regiment that was with them, also mobilizing the 6th Infantry Regiment based in Mercedes and the 1st Artillery Regiment with base in Junín, all of them under the orders of General Heraclio Ferrazzano, commander of the II Army Division who was supported by Colonel Norberto Ugolini, chief of staff of the Division.
Both Uranga and Rojas understood the need to take over La Plata in order to remove such an important place from government hands. And to this end, Lieutenant Büsser was tasked with loading his troops into several trucks and preparing to advance.
Based on that plan, a jeep was dispatched to inspect the area, whose driver was to transport an officer to reconnoitre the area. This was done and upon his return, it was certain that machine gun nests and a large number of troops had been stationed both in the nearby town of Ensenada and on the access road to La Plata. Uranga wanted to make sure of this personally and left aboard a private car accompanied by his assistant, Captain Luis A. Garda, and his two nephews, who had driven him that morning to Río Santiago.
The vehicle started moving and just three kilometers from the base it came across two machine gun posts stationed on both sides of the road, which they passed without problems because Uranga was wearing his uniform and that made the police forces assume that it was a loyal officer. They were still unaware that there were elements of the Army who had joined the rebel forces.
Despite this, the general decided to return because he knew that if he continued, he could be isolated, with loyal troops blocking his path. The car turned around and returned along dirt streets parallel to the road.
Uranga offered the high command an overview of the situation, which is why it was decided to suspend the advance on La Plata to adopt defensive positions, securing the Naval Shipyard sector and the grain elevators.


Patrol boat ARA "King" (P.21) moored in port (Image: Fundación Histarmar. Historia y Arqueología Marítima)

Police officers from the province of Buenos Aires, reinforced by the Naval Prefecture and civil militants from the union groups and basic units of the provincial capital, set out towards Río Santiago, following direct instructions from the Ministry of War. Once in front of the base, they took up positions near the entrances and began shooting, unleashing an intense firefight that could be heard for several kilometers around.
The battle began when loyalist forces moved to envelop the rebel vanguard, moving to the left, covered by buildings, as they entered the surrounding swamps.
It was 10:00 on that cold September morning when General Heraclio Ferrazzano and Colonel Hermenegildo Barbosa, the latter chief of the 7th Infantry Regiment, arrived in the area to take control of the situation. An hour later, when the 450 marines and their army allies were consolidating a bridgehead on the mainland, Ferrazzano ordered an attack on them, to force them to retreat to the other side of the Santiago River.
Barbosa divided his forces into two sections, sending the first to occupy the railway station and the second to do the same with Plaza Belgrano, while the 2nd Artillery Regiment, reinforced by a battery from the “Buenos Aires” Motorized Regiment and the 2nd Battalion of Communications, began its advance through the center.
Seeing them coming, the troops stationed at the Shipyard opened fire, stopping the forces that were approaching them and containing them until noon.
While the first clashes were taking place, an Avro Lincoln from Morón bombed the base's magazines without causing damage. The bombs fell into the water and the plane moved away, repelled by the artillery of the patrol boats moored next to the Naval Academy.
While these events were taking place on the mainland, from Martín García Island, the BDI landing units No. 6 and No. 11 sailed towards the base carrying on board Marine Infantry troops made up of three companies of candidates and personnel from the School of Sailors based on the island plus Company No. 2 of the Marine Infantry under the orders of frigate captain Juan Carlos González Llanos, on board the second.


An Avro Lincoln approaches low-flying. (Image: Blog de las Fuerzas de Defensa de la República Argentina - http //fdra.blogspot.com.ar)

The boats had left at 10:50 and two hours later they were off La Plata, ready to enter the port. Four government Gloster Meteor fighters and five Calquin bombers detected their presence and attacked them, strafing them first and throwing their bombs at them immediately afterwards. The BDI No. 11, piloted by Lieutenant Federico Roussillon, received the full fury of the fire.
The Calquin bombs exploded nearby, shaking the boats hard. It was followed at low altitude by the Gloster Meteors, which indiscriminately riddled its decks, which lacked anti-aircraft defenses. The boats carried out zigzag maneuvers and continued their advance when the attackers, after consuming their ammunition, began their return to Morón.
The attack caused two deaths and nine injuries on board the BDI No. 11, which only responded with rifle fire, which was ineffective, by the way. A projectile had destroyed her engine regulator, causing her to stop. Her subsequent stranding left channel 2 partially blocked. Despite the damage, the boat would be repaired and would continue sailing for the rest of the day.
The boats docked next to the Prefecture detachment and disembarked the troops under fire from loyal troops. The companies spread out through the swamps in the direction of the Naval Academy, trying to take cover in the mountains. Company No. 2 of the Marine Infantry, under the command of Lieutenant Oscar López, attempted to join the defense of the main building of the establishment. They were received by the person in charge of surveillance, Lieutenant Roberto Wulff de la Fuente, who ordered them to form up to immediately distribute them to different sectors.
The infantrymen were shocked by the air attacks and therefore disbanded when a Gloster Meteor passed over them, without firing shots. With the danger removed, they formed up again and marched directly to the front.
After noon, the “King” and the “Murature”, pulled by the tugboats, were located next to the dock, in front of the Naval Academy. From the spit of land next to the grain elevators, on the opposite bank, they received intense fire, suffering the first casualties. An impact hit the bridge of the “King” causing some damage and almost hitting her commander. Those who did not have the same luck were the sailor Mateo Viña, killed by a 7.65 caliber shot in the chest and the first corporal Raúl Torres, seriously wounded in the face, next to the Bofors cannon that served.
In the “Murature” the shrapnel hit Corporal Balsante squarely, also wounded in the face; to the artillery non-commissioned officer Victorio Rodríguez and to the sailor Luis Palena, who fell on a Rokord clock from the signal bridge, staining the commander with his blood. The tugboats were also hit but without major consequences and were able to continue advancing towards the docks.
Immediately after docking, the patrol boats disembarked dead and wounded while their commanders headed to the Liceo building to appear before its director, Captain Carlos M. Bourel, and receive directives. Bourel informed them of where his troops were located and ordered them to open fire on the enemy positions.
The patrollers fired with such violence that upon hitting the area, the loyal forces were forced to evacuate the sector while suffering considerable casualties in their ranks. While this was happening, Büsser's people, face to face, shot at them from the shipyards.


Patrol boat ARA "Murature" (P-20) gains open waters in the Río de la Plata. She was Admiral Rojas' flagship until his transfer to the cruiser "La Argentina" on September 18, 1955.
 (Image: gentileza Fundación Histarmar. Historia y Arqueología Marítima)

There was intense fighting in Río Santiago when an Avro Lincoln piloted by Vice Commodore Islas left the Morón Air Base. The aircraft carried Captain Hugo Crexell as a pointer and his mission was to intimidate the rebels and show them the destructive capacity available to the government.
The device approached flying high over the Dock Central distilleries and once over the target it opened its floodgates and dropped its bombs, immediately beginning evasion maneuvers. The loads went long and fell into canal waters, without consequences.
In anticipation of this type of attacks, the main buildings were conditioned, covering their openings with mattresses and all kinds of elements, in order to avoid splinters and splinters from the shattered glass.


An I.Ae-24 Calquin prepares to attack Río Santiago

At 2:30 p.m., two Avro Lincolns and a Calquin attacked again, but without success. When the alarm was raised, the officers, who had made the Naval Academy Directorate their headquarters, fell to the ground, got off tables and desks, while the explosions shook the earth.
Admiral Rojas, on the other hand, maintained a serene attitude, praised by his assistants at the end of the conflict. According to Isidoro Ruiz Moreno, while the bombardment lasted he remained standing, joking with his subordinates who watched him in disbelief from the floor, especially Lieutenant Jorge Isaac Anaya and the admiral's assistant, Lieutenant Oscar Carlos Ataide, both of whom were under cover. a desk that had belonged to General Justo José de Urquiza. From that position, he maintained telephone contact with Captain Adolfo Grandi, who commanded the troops fighting in the Shipyard, following the combat alternatives.
The first bombs fell into the water without exploding because due to the low altitude at which the planes flew, their fuzes did not have time to arm. New incursions followed, all of them repelled by crossfire from the “King” and the “Murature” which, at that point, had become the main beasts of anti-aircraft defense. A bomb exploded near the first, hitting its hull with shrapnel, while two of the attacking aircraft received impacts of different magnitude: the Calquin, one that crossed its right wing from side to side, near the fuselage, and the Avro Lincoln, another in the turret. lower. The first crashed near the La Plata Regatta Club, killing the pilot and his companion, and the second left smoking in the direction of the “Armour” refrigerator.

While these actions were taking place, a squadron of six Calquins under the command of Captain Jorge Costa Peuser, deserted to the rebel ranks. It was made up of captains Valladares, Marcilese, Pérez, Abdala and Crespo, who had landed that same day in Morón, from El Plumerillo, province of Mendoza to reinforce the loyal Air Force.
Having received the order to bomb Río Santiago, the planes dropped their bombs into the water and continued flying towards Tandil, to join the revolutionary ranks. The fact did not go unnoticed in Morón where, in the afternoon, Crexell and his assistants began to worry about defections, the fire potential of the patrol cars, and the inexperience of the government pilots during the attacks.
And it was no wonder since a careful analysis of the situation was able to determine that none of their bombs had achieved hits, two planes had been hit, and at least half a dozen had deserted, including the recent arrivals from El Plumerillo.
The Repression Command ordered a bombing mission on the rebel positions in Córdoba and in compliance with that directive, the head of the FAA, Brigadier Juan Fabri, dispatched the two Avro Lincolns piloted by captains Ricardo Rossi and Orlando Cappellini to whom we we refer to in chapter 9.
The pilots took off at 12:30 and once in the air, they made a low pass over the runway and cut off communication with the tower. An hour later they were over the Military Aviation School, in the province of Córdoba, requesting authorization to land.
Two hours later, three other aircraft commanded by Captain Fernando González Bosque and First Lieutenants Manuel Turrado Juárez and Dardo Lafalce would do the same, which, as has been said, considerably increased the firepower of the revolutionary forces.

The actions in Río Santiago lasted well into the night. The loyal forces, under the command of General Ferrazzano, had harassed the base and its facilities throughout the day, firing their powerful cannons and mortars on the patrol boats and the main buildings.
At 5:00 p.m., the Marine Corps, following direct instructions from Rojas, began to cross the arm of water that separates the Shipyard from the School. Lieutenant Carlos Sommariva was there, supporting his position inside the sheds under the pressure of Ferrazzano's forces when Captain Grandi arrived to transmit the order that he should go to the ferry and cross to the School. At the moment when both officers were talking, a bullet hit Grandi and threw him to the ground. Sommariva thought they had killed him but his surprise was great when he saw him stand up and continue speaking. The projectile had hit a button on his jacket, miraculously saving his life.

Guns from the 7th Infantry Regiment open fire on the patrol boats "King" and "Murature"

At an indication from Sommariva, the Marines ran towards the ferry, crossing the ramps on which the frigate “Libertad” was being built. They did it in sections, very professionally, first the conscripts, then the non-commissioned officers and finally the officers, who remained until the last moment covering the retreat while the fire intensified around them. The ferry crossed and deposited the conscripts on the opposite bank while the officers contained the Army as best they could.
Among the front-line combatants was Lieutenant Menotti Alejandro Spinelli, a veteran of June 16, who during the withdrawal passed by the hull of the “Libertad” when several enemy shots pierced its structure. In the midst of construction, the superb ship, pride of the Argentine Navy, received her baptism of fire.
At 6:00 p.m., the ferry guided by Lieutenant Julio Santoianni returned to the Shipyard to pick up the officers. The boat approached the extensive north jetty and the troops began to board hastily, covered by the fire of the patrol boats.
When all the personnel were on board, the ship left the dock and returned to the School, making it possible for the Army advance guards under the command of Major Horacio Rella, fulfilling direct orders from General Ferrazzano, to reach the access to the shipyard. An hour later, the artillery was located at the rear, in the open fields sector of the General Roca Railway, guided from the observation and adjustment posts stationed in the towers of the church and the Municipal Palace of Ensenada.
It was 8:00 p.m. when the cannons began to be prepared to support the troop assault that had been planned for the next day. The Morón Air Base, for its part, ended operations for that day due to the impossibility of operating at night.
When the clocks showed 9:00 p.m., Captain Crexell walked to a car located in the unit's parking lot to go to the Ministry of the Navy to present his report to Admiral Cornes. He was accompanied by the vice-commodores of Marotte and Síster, with whom he was discussing the day's alternatives when, suddenly, from a Calquin parked in front of them, someone opened fire.
The officers threw themselves on the ground at the precise moment when the plane was taxiing towards the runway to take flight, providentially saving their lives because at the moment of firing, the device was resting on the tail skid and that caused the gust to pass over their heads, without reaching them.

The anti-aircraft guns of the "King" and "Murature" respond. (Image: Blog de las Fuerzas de Defensa de la República Argentina)

Once the scare was over, Crexell got up, said goodbye to his companions, boarded the vehicle and left for the capital. At the Ministry he was received by his head, Admiral Cornes, and other senior officials to whom he gave the corresponding report, which lasted during dinner and ended around midnight. It was there that he realized, with some concern, that the government authorities considered the uprising to be defeated and that caused him concern because, at that point, nothing could be assured.
Meanwhile, in Río Santiago, Admiral Rojas carried out an analysis of the situation.
Lacking artillery, he knew that General Ferrazzano's forces would eventually prevail, reducing the naval installations to ashes. It was necessary to evacuate the place and move the troops out to sea if what was wanted was to avoid a massacre.
The decision upset ship captain Luis M. García who vigorously protested because, in his words, he was there to fight to the end and not to retreat. Rojas calmed him down, explaining that the situation was unsustainable and that to continue the fight, they had to embark and harass the enemy from the sea. García understood and Rojas went on to explain the plan.

With the arrival of night, the fighting ceased. The army troops changed positions, evacuated the wounded and proceeded to regain energy by distributing the ranch among the troops. On the rebel side, the pertinent orders were given for the boarding of the troops while in the School Directorate, Admiral Rojas, helped by lieutenants Jorge Isaac Anaya, Oscar Carlos Ataide and Jorge Osvaldo Lauría, proceeded to burn the documentation to avoid to fall into the hands of the enemy.
Rojas wrote a note to General Ferrazzano, which he left on his desk. It said, among other things, that the facilities and buildings of the Naval Base and its School were patrimony of the Nation and, therefore, property of the Argentine people: “I hope that on this occasion the embarrassing events that occurred will not be repeated. "They occurred when Army forces occupied the Ministry of the Navy on June 16, which was looted as war booty, not distinguishing between state property and private property."
Around 8:00 p.m., when the loyal forces proceeded to prepare the artillery to support the final assault, the “Murature” finished embarking the troops and crew of its twin “King”, unable to navigate due to repairs to the that was being subjected at the moment the revolution broke out.
When everything was ready, the ship lightened its moorings and with its personnel at its combat stations headed towards the Río de la Plata in total radio silence, pointing its cannons towards the enemy positions. The boat headed towards the access channel with the purpose of escorting the BDM and BDI boats in which the base personnel were still boarding and with a single engine on, it maneuvered to leave the port, slowly moving away into the water, without being attacked.
Admiral Rojas was the last to board. He did it in the BDI No. 11, accompanied by General Uranga and his staff made up of Captains Abel Fernández, Luis Miguel García, numerous officers and his assistant from the cruiser “9 de Julio”, the non-commissioned officer Alfredo Bavera. The boat was supposed to be the last to set sail but as BDT No. 6 had technical failures, it had to do so earlier.
At 9:00 p.m. Rojas ordered to set sail. Midshipman Adolfo Arduino, in charge of the helm, was so nervous by his presence that he had some difficulty moving away from the dock. At first it separated a little but after a few minutes, it collided with him. He repeated the maneuver and for the second time he attacked the station again, the same thing a third time until Captain Jorge J. Palma, concerned, asked to take charge. His counterpart, Captain Sánchez Sañudo, restrained him by reminding him that Arduino was the commander at that time and that he was the one in charge of carrying out the maneuver and that is how he understood it.
Finally they set sail. The boat moved away from the coast and with the lights off it navigated through the channel to enter the roadstead and gain the immensity of the river, heading to the “Recalada” Pontoon. It was at that moment when, exhausted and still tense, Rojas went down to the cabins, lay down on a bunk bed and fell sound asleep.
The BDT 6 took two hours to repair its defects and once they were corrected, it also departed (11:00 p.m.), leaving the Naval Base completely empty.


A column of armored vehicles that responds to General Heraclio Ferrazzano crosses Ensenada in the direction of Río Santiago ("El Día" from La Plata newspaper, 09/17/1955)


A loyal plane flies over Ensenada ("El Día" de La Plata newspaper, 09/17/1955)


The Barrio Campamento razed (Image: Archivo Nacional de la memoria)


"Rarely has the camera been as expressive as in this note taken in the heart of the Campamento neighborhood. Along with the panorama of destruction and annihilation, the product of fratricidal conflict, the image of General Perón appears unscathed, firm and upright on a piece of masonry that He withstood the onslaught. The figure truthfully symbolizes the high value placed on the person of the President of the Nation in these crucial moments. The circumstance that the bombs have not managed to bring down the effigy of the Driver seems to mean an allegory in the sense that he always lives. in the deepest part of the heart of his people" ("El Día" de La Plata newspaper, 09/17/1955)


Fire crews try to control the fires ("El Día" de La Plata newspaper, 09/17/1955)


Fires and debris in Ensenada ("El Día" de La Plata newspaper, 09/17/1955)


The Barrio Campamento in debris ("El Día" de La Plata newspaper, 09/17/1955)


Mass exodus in Ensenada ("El Día" de La Plata newspaper, 09/17/1955)


A group of refugees boards one of the many YPF trucks that the government made available to rescuers ("El Día" de La Plata newspaper, 09/17/1955)


Residents of Ensenada and the Campamento neighborhood are evacuated in one of the many vehicles requisitioned by the Ministry of Health of the Province of Buenos Aires ("El Día" de La Plata newspaper, 09/17/1955)


This elderly couple has just arrived at the La Plata train station in a car from the newspaper "El Día" ("El Día" de La Plata newspaper, 09/17/1955) 


More refugees arrive at La Plata station ("El Día" de La Plata newspaper, 09/17/1955)


Numerous evacuees are housed in the Provincial Hotel of La Plata ("El Día" de La Plata newspaper, 09/17/1955)

Notes

1. In 1982, Admiral Carlos Büsser led the occupation forces of the Malvinas archipelago during Operation Rosario.
2. Jorge E. Perren, Puerto Belgrano y la Revolución Libertadora, p. 187.

1955 Guerra Civil. La Revolucion Libertadora y la caída de Perón

Argentine Antarctica: The 1972 Tragedy

Tragedy in Antarctica: fall into a crevasse, a man waiting to be rescued and a missing body

In February 1972, a somber incident unfolded on the Antarctic continent as a Snocat transporting a patrol to the Sobral Base plunged into a deep crevice. The unfortunate event resulted in the loss of one occupant's life, while the other, teetering on the brink of freezing, placed their trust in Providence but was ultimately rescued. This narrative encapsulates the valor and commitment exhibited by those who dared to endure a year in the challenging conditions of the white continent.

By Adrián Pignatelli || Infobae

 

The patrol of ten men that left the Belgrano Base for Sobral, by then already deactivated (Photograph courtesy of Carlos Fontana)

Inside the crevice, about sixty meters of icy depth, assistant mechanic sergeant Bladimiro Lezchik was conscious. He had an open fracture in his left shoulder and was bleeding from a deep wound in his scalp.

The vehicle he was driving, a Snocat, had fallen into a treacherous opening of ice that was hidden by the snow. His partner, Assistant Sergeant Oscar Kurzmann, 35, lay outside the destroyed vehicle. He was dead.

He remained for several hours in total darkness. While he asked for help, he thought about his family, his children. In a moment he resigned himself and entrusted himself to God.

When one of his companions came down with ropes to rescue him, he was freezing, he was at the limit of his strength and he was dominated by that dream from which it is impossible to wake up.

Bladimiro Lezchik was of Ukrainian descent. He was born in Formosa and his dream was to visit Antarctica (Photograph courtesy of the Lezchik family)

It was his first mission in Antarctica, where he had always dreamed of going, where he learned to know it through the stories of General Jorge Leal and when he set foot there he would be hooked forever. He said that it was like a magnet, a love, to which you always want to return.

Bladimiro (yes, with a long b, that's how they wrote it down) was a man from Formosa born in Colonia El Zapallito and he lived his childhood in El Colorado, a city in the southeast of the province, on the banks of the Bermejo River. His father had settled there, a Ukrainian who made his living as a tailor in his country, who traveled in carts making clothes and who in the harsh winter months when he couldn't go out, did theater.

Assistant Sergeant Oscar Kurzmann. He had Antarctic experience. Photograph published in the Non-Commissioned Officer Magazine No. 588, year 1984.

With a group of friends he came to Argentina and when he wanted to return, a civil war had broken out between Russia and Poland. He knew that if he returned he would be drafted and he stayed. The original family surname is an endless string of consonants, and the civil registry employee wrote it the way he heard it and that's how it stayed.

In Formosa there is an important colony of Ukrainians. The Lezchiks dedicated themselves to the countryside and Bladimiro, until he entered primary school, only spoke his native language. Upon completion, since there was no secondary school in the area, they sent him to train at the Sergeant Cabral Non-Commissioned Officers School.

The first one on the left. Lezchik with two companions, with a Snocat in the background (Photograph courtesy of the Lezchik family)

In 1961 he married Lidia Martyniuk, also of Ukrainian parents. He introduced them to a cousin at the end of 1957 when they returned to El Colorado on those endless train trips to Chaco and then by bus to the town of those who studied in Buenos Aires during the year.

When in 1970 they bought land and built a house in Rosario, they did so with a loan. Paying the fees was increasingly difficult, and the solution that Bladimiro saw was to offer to participate in a mission in Antarctica, for the significant extra that was charged.

Lezchik's dream was to go to the white continent, but he had not been lucky enough to be called up, despite the number of times he had signed up. Until he was selected.

On the way to Sobral, at kilometer 60, carrying fuel on the sleds (Photograph courtesy of Carlos Fontana)

They were first sent south to acclimatize to the cold and snow. His wife Lidia, who had worked until she got married, was left alone with two children, Elbio, 9, and Noemí, 5, in a neighborhood where there was only one house on her block and the rest were vacant. Before Lezchik left, who had a knack for fixing anything, he added extra latches to the doors and windows.

On January 18, 1972, the 34 men, including military and civilians, arrived in Antarctica. For some it was their first trip and others already had experience.

The first task was titanic. Transfer the cargo brought by the San Martín Icebreaker about five kilometers uphill to the Belgrano Base.

Mortal trap. The crack where the Snocat "Chaco" fell, with the two men (Photograph courtesy of Carlos Fontana)

On February 8, after lunch, he left on his first mission. He was part of a patrol of ten men, commanded by Carlos Fontana, a first lieutenant who had fallen in love with Antarctica after reading Cuatro Años en las Orcas del Sur, by José Manuel Moneta. He turned 30 years old on the white continent.

The patrol left the General Belgrano Base towards Alférez Sobral, an inactive scientific base, located 410 kilometers to the south. They had to update the route and supply it with food and fuel, because the future plan was to reactivate it. Deactivated in October 1968, the Sobral is currently buried in ice.

The trip had to be made as soon as possible, because the polar night was approaching. Fontana considered the order meaningless, because the snow and ice were soft and the dangers increased.

They were in four Snocats, the “Córdoba”, “Chaco”, “Venado Tuerto” and “Santiago del Estero”. Each of them dragged three sleds. Lezchik drove the “Chaco” and was accompanied by Assistant Sergeant Oscar Kurzmann, who had already joined the Esperanza Base crew in 1964.

The operation to rescue Lezchik and recover Kurzmann's body was put into practice immediately (Photograph courtesy of Carlos Fontana).

On the maps that the group carried, the areas of cracks were marked, gathered in a stretch of about 60 kilometers. They were driving in second gear and probing the terrain to locate possible openings.

At 11:40 p.m., at kilometer 72, the “Santiago del Estero” sounded the alarm: the “Chaco” had disappeared into a crevasse.

Only a dark hole was visible, from which what Fontana describes as “sea smoke” emanated, with a strong acrid smell. When faced with shouting calls, only Lezchik responded. He asked to be taken out. Immediately, the rescue operation was prepared.

Lezchik, who had managed to get out of the Snocat, saw that his companion was on a balcony in the crevice, dead. He felt the blood running down his face and how his body grew cold. As time passed, he knew the inexorable fate.

On the surface, his companions had organized themselves against the clock. Sergeant Domínguez offered to go down, because he was the one who weighed the least. They crossed boards over the immense gap, tied him to several nylon ropes and lowered him, but when the rope reached its limit, they heard his screams that he could not reach the place. They had to add two more sections.

The Snocat was destroyed, about sixty meters deep. Domínguez confirmed that Kurzmann had died. Then he took care of Lezchik.

Kilometer 72. Before returning to the Belgrano Base, they left a cross in the place where Kurzmann's body was left. (Photograph courtesy of Carlos Fontana)

He tied up this burly man of 1.92, who put his good arm around his neck. Laboriously, they climbed them.

Once on the surface, morphine was applied, his shoulder was immobilized and he received thirty stitches, without anesthesia, on his scalp. He was hypothermic and maneuvers were performed to stabilize him. They had to take him to the base because his life was in danger and they were running out of morphine.

While he was being assisted, Lieutenant Juan Carlos Videla and Leonardo Guzmán (with 14 winters in Antarctica under their belt) went down to rescue the body of their dead companion. They saw that his head was crushed. They covered her with the hood of their jacket.

When they were hoisting the body, the rope was cut and the body fell into the void. With a temperature of 20 degrees below zero, the men exhausted and one seriously injured, the chief, although at one point he thought about dividing the patrol, ordered to return to the base.

A wooden cross was improvised, milestones were placed to mark the place, and nine grieving men set out. They returned to the site on February 25, when weather permitted. They went in three Snocats and in one they carried a wooden coffin built by Assistant Sergeant Aragón and Sergeant Domínguez. To do so, they took the height of the head of the base as a measurement.

When they arrived at the place, they saw that the wooden cross was standing but that the crack had closed. They opened other holes and lowered a lantern that, due to the difference in temperature, exploded. They knew there was nothing they could do and they returned.

In November 1972, a fuel drum filled with ice with a metal cross, secured with steel cables, served as a monolith in tribute to the dead comrade.

For the patrol, it was a premonitory event. Days ago Kurzmann had confessed to Fontana that the day he died, he wanted to rest in Antarctica. He had already been at the Esperanza and Matienzo bases in other seasons and his vocation for being there was evident.

Lidia Lezchik found out about the accident because the police came to her house with a message from the Antarctic Directorate. Her challenge was then to talk to her husband on the phone.

Before leaving, Lezchik had asked, unsuccessfully, for a telephone line in a neighborhood that was conspicuous by its absence.

Communications between the continent and Antarctica were complicated to establish (Photograph courtesy of the Lezchik family)

His son Elbio remembers that there were two ways to talk to his father. One was to go to the command in Rosario, where a link was made with the Belgrano Base and the other was a phone call. Since the family did not have a telephone, they went to a neighbor's house, a few blocks away, or used the phone booth at the bus terminal. The procedure was always the same: there were pre-established days and times to do it, the call was requested and you had to wait. Sometimes an eternity.

As a result of solidarity, the members of the base had the services of the LU2AO radio amateur, who gave up an hour every Sunday so they could communicate with their families.

Only a week after the accident was the woman able to speak with her husband. They were not clean transmissions, there was a lot of noise that caused the voices to be distorted. “It's like when you try to talk underwater,” she explained. Additionally, they had to close a question or phrase with a “change.”

Doubts immediately arose in the woman. What if it wasn't her husband who was talking to her? If it was a colleague who pretended to be him because she was more serious than what they had told him? I always asked these questions on the way back home after each communication. It was winter and the wife and her two children slept together in the double bed to feel less alone.

In those talks, the same thing always happened: as soon as Elbio heard his father's voice, the emotion overcame him, he couldn't speak and he crossed to the opposite square to calm down.

Lezchik had to remain in Antarctica because the ice closed and the sea route was cut off. Operated by Dr. Bianco, he cured his shoulder there after four months of convalescence. His colleagues said that he was a strong and tough “Pole”. They also nicknamed him “Russian” and “German.”

The return was a rough sailing on the icebreaker to Ushuaia, where they boarded a Hercules. The whole family went to wait for him at El Palomar. His wife's mystery was which person he would meet. That night the expectation was eternal because he was the last to get off the machine. “Didn't you see Lezchik?” he asked each of those who got off. “Yes, yes…” was the answer. But nothing else.

It broke Lidia's heart to see María Teresa, Oscar Kurzmann's wife, alone, waiting for the bag with her unfortunate husband's belongings, including books by Arthur Schopenhauer written in German.

He was the last to appear. The family, relieved to see that she could move on her own, ran down the track to the foot of the stairs towards this big man who was unrecognizable because he had grown a beard. There were no words, but kisses and hugs. She was surprised to see her children taller than her.

Lezchik next to a Snocat, the vehicle used to travel in Antarctica (Photograph courtesy of the Lezchik family)

Endless hours of talks followed, where he recounted his experiences. They took a month's vacation and when they returned it was their turn to do their studies. He had a small bone in his shoulder raised a little higher.

He suffered from intense headaches and had to undergo psychological treatment for his recurring nightmares in which he dreamed that he fell into the crack.

He began to perform passive tasks in the Rosario military factory and in 1974 he was retired due to disability. They recommended that he dedicate himself to something that had nothing to do with his profession. That's how he became a taxi driver in Rosario. Vanesa's arrival had made him a father for the third time.

As his son remembers him, he was a silent, somewhat withdrawn person, with a very strong inner life.

He was also an evangelical pastor and with his wife they became the leaders of the “Sanctuary of Faith” temple, in Provincias Unidas in 2000, near the Rosario exit towards Funes, where nearly five thousand faithful attend. They had both been raised in that religion.

He was very detailed in everything he undertook and he himself fixed the car when it broke down. He liked to cook and had inherited organizational skills from the army. That habit made him a reference in the great campaigns of evangelism.

On Saturday, April 30, 2005, he was heading in his Peugeot 405 with other pastors to a meeting in the city of Buenos Aires. At kilometer 268 of the Rosario-Buenos Aires highway, near Arroyo Seco, there was a lot of fog and smoke, and they had to stop at the end of a long line led by a car that braked because it did not want to continue in those conditions. They were left behind a truck and another, loaded with soybeans, did not stop in time. Lezchik, at the wheel, died instantly along with another. A third, Norberto Carlini, saved his life.

He was 58 years old.

Carlos Fontana remained silent and after fifty years decided to tell what had happened that February 1972. On September 21 of last year, an event was organized, in which Kurzmann's nephews were given his file.

Monolith that marks the site of the tragic accident in which Oscar Kurzmann lost his life. (Photograph courtesy of Carlos Fontana)

Noemí Lezchik told Infobae that her father's eyes clouded with grief when he remembered his dead colleague, and it was a memory that accompanied him throughout his life. She says that he had two deaths, one when he had the accident, in which he was reborn when he was rescued and then on the highway where, far from the Antarctic ice that he was so passionate about, that son of Ukrainians who had learned Spanish at school and that everything he undertook in life he did with the same passion with which he lived.

Sources: Interviews with Lidia Martyniuk, Elbio Lezchik, Noemí Lezchik and Carlos Fontana.