Spain. In the Battle of Brunete, the famous photographer Gerda Taro (real name Gerda Phorylle), companion of Robert Capa (real name André Friedmann), dies behind the Republican lines. According to several accounts, a Republican tank, while reversing, unknowingly collides violently with the car carrying Gerda. She dies the next day in hospital from her wounds. Journalist Robin Stummer, citing Willy Brandt (the future German Chancellor and Gerda’s friend during the Spanish Civil War), claims that Gerda fell victim to Stalin’s purges targeting those who did not align with Soviet positions.
