A new documentary titled "The Aviators of Ganja" has been released, detailing the lives of young volunteers who traveled from Spain to Azerbaijan in the 1930s for military pilot training.
According to the Operative Information Center-OMM, the film explores the fate of Spanish pilots who were sent to the Soviet Union during the Spanish Civil War and underwent training in Ganja, which was known as Kirovabad at the time.
Historical records indicate that following General Francisco Franco's 1936 uprising against the democratic government, Spanish Republicans faced a severe shortage of professional pilots. Unable to secure necessary support from Western nations, the Spanish government turned to the USSR for pilot training assistance.
Hundreds of young Spaniards were secretly transported through Leningrad, Moscow, Kharkiv, and Odessa to Ganja. The training base operated under strict secrecy, and the cadets were assigned Russian names to maintain cover.
The pilots endured rigorous conditions, living in simple barracks and training on rocky airfields using "Polikarpov U-2" aircraft. To overcome language barriers, specialized Russian-Spanish aviation dictionaries were utilized during instruction.
Upon completing their initial training, the pilots gained combat experience flying "Tupolev SB-2" bombers and "Polikarpov I-15" and "I-16" fighters.
The documentary notes that many of these pilots could not return to their homeland. Of the 185 pilots who completed training in 1939, 101 remained in Azerbaijan, while others emigrated to Mexico.
Following Germany's invasion of the USSR in 1941, the Spanish pilots faced new challenges. Due to the strategic importance of Azerbaijan's oil fields, they participated in the defense of the skies over Baku and the Caucasus region.
The film highlights the service of pilot Jose Maria Bravo, who was involved in defending the oil fields surrounding Baku.
In the post-war period, many of these pilots faced political repression and were forced to keep their pasts secret for decades.
"The Aviators of Ganja" sheds light on a lesser-known chapter of European history and underscores the role Ganja played in international military aviation training during that era.
