Jay Allen


Jay Allen was an American journalist, who reported on the Spanish Civil War and the occupation of France during the Second World War. He worked for the Chicago Tribune, the North American Newspaper Alliance and various other newspapers until his death in 1972.

Biography

Career

Between 1925 and 1934, he was a correspondent for the Chicago Tribune in France, Belgium, Spain, Italy, Austria, Germany, Poland and the Balkans. In 1930, he met important leaders of the Spanish Socialist Party : Juan Negrín, Luis Araquistáin, Julio Álvarez del Vayo, Rodolfo Llopis in Spain. He also knew important leaders of the Spanish right such as José Calvo Sotelo and José Antonio Primo de Rivera. In 1934, he covered the uprising in Asturias for the Chicago Tribune. He was briefly imprisoned because he helped to hide some socialist leaders from the police. After his release he went to live in Torremolinos and over the next two years traveled across Spain to gather information for a book about the agrarian problem in Spain.

Spanish civil war

When the Spanish Civil War started, he covered the conflict for the Chicago Tribune. In July 1936 he interviewed general Francisco Franco.
Allen was the first American journalist to report on the massacre of Badajoz. On 23 August 1936, nine days after the fall of the city, he entered Badajoz and saw the executions taking place. On 30 August the Chicago Tribune published his report on the massacre: "Slaughter of 4,000 at Badajoz, city of horrors", the first report about it in the United States. As a result, the rebels put a price on his head and their supporters in the States started a campaign against Allen. In November 1936 he interviewed the chief of Spanish falange José Antonio Primo de Rivera who was imprisoned in Alicante. It was the last interview before his execution. After that, Allen returned to the United States.

Second World War and after

In 1938, Allen was hired, then quickly fired, by the nascent left-leaning avant-garde magazine Ken. In late 1940 he travelled to Vichy France via Portugal and North Africa as a correspondent for the North American Newspaper Alliance, clinching an exclusive interview with Marshal Pétain in January 1941. He also used his journalist status as a cover to help to organize an escape route for French artists and Spanish Republican refugees to flee the country. This involved him crossing the border into Occupied France illegally, leading to his arrest and imprisonment by the Gestapo when he tried to cross back. He was later freed as part of a prisoner exchange. In 1942 he took part in the campaign of North Africa. After that, he returned to America and worked for various newspapers until his death in 1972.

Footnotes