From the Collection: Yale University. Department of Manuscripts and Archives
Published / Created:
1957
Call Number:
MS 650
Container / Volume:
Box 1, folder 20
Image Count:
2
Description:
After holding a three-day court-martial, Fidel Castro's column of guerrillas prepares to carry out a series of executions of local peasants, some of whom are accused of common crimes like rape and murder, and others of whom are accused of treason against the Revolution; all those tried, according to St. George, were executed by firing squad during his stay. Top frames in the first row show Raúl Castro, chief coordinator according to St. George of the executions, apparently giving instructions to the men followed by two frames in which a Catholic priest St. George identified as "Father Yares" (possibly his nom de guerre) but whose real name was Padre Guillermo Sardiñas, an ordained Catholic priest, gives the prisoners last rites and Raúl Castro ties a blindfold around the second prisoner's eyes. The fourth image in the top row of frames shows the guerrillas observing the execution. One man, possibly Jorge Enrique Mendoza of Radio Rebelde, the guerrillas' clandestine radio station, can be seen to the left of the frame (with goatee), holding a camera in his hands. Camilo Cienfuegos stands to his left, on the other side of a tree trunk. The second row of frames shows a smiling Juan Almeida Bosque and several close-up shots of a rebel whom comrades nicknamed "Cantínflas" for his resemblance to the Mexican comedic film actor of the 1930s and 1940s. The third row of frames shows Padre Sardiñas with a third prisoner and then the prisoner immediately after his execution. The fourth row of frames shows Fidel Castro talking to the guerrillas, facing Raúl Castro. The fifth row of frames shows a duplicate of a photograph taken earlier in which two members of the Pardo gang exhibit the shell of a bomb dropped by government aircraft, also seen in Print 17. The bottom frames show the guerrillas following the execution of the man seen in row three of the frames on this sheet. See also Prints 15, 19, 26, 29, 30, 31, 33, 35, 36, 37 and 41.
From the Collection: Yale University. Department of Manuscripts and Archives
Published / Created:
1957 May
Call Number:
MS 650
Container / Volume:
Box 1, folder 2
Image Count:
1
Description:
Various images of the surviving group of 18 guerrillas under the command of Fidel Castro Ruz who had landed on the southern shore of Oriente province as part of an invading force of 82 men on December 2, 1956. Calling themselves the 26th of July Movement, these men made their way into the mountains where the photographer first met them in May or June of 1957. Frame 5 shows Efigenio Ameijeiras, later first Chief of the National Revolutionary Police after 1959, sitting in a metal helmet at the center of a group of guerrillas and peasant recruits from the area. Frame 6 shows Luis Crespo (smoking with a towel on his shoulders) and to his immediate left, Victor Boronat, whom St. George describes as a recent middle-class recruit from Manzanillo, and to Crespo's immediate right Manuel Fajardo. Other rebels in Frame 5 unidentified. Frame 3 is the rebel lieutenant known as "El Negro" Pérez. Frame 4 shows Raúl Castro with peasant family resident in the area occupied by the guerrillas. Frame 2, at the bottom, shows Fidel Castro delivering a speech and inviting peasants of the area who are gathered around him to take an oath of loyalty and collaboration with the rebel cause. To Fidel's back in the front row, from right to left area: Efigenio Ameijeiras (with metal helmet), Ciro Redondo (in hat), Juan Almeida Bosque (black man with no hat), Manuel Fajardo (in hat with up-turned visor), Ernesto "Che" Guevara, Julio Díaz (curly hair with no hat), a man identified only as "Ciao," Luis Crespo (with towel around shoulders), and Ciro Frías. According to St. George, this photograph was taken in a location described as "a day's march from El Hombrito" in the Sierra Maestra mountains. See also Print 10.
From the Collection: Yale University. Department of Manuscripts and Archives
Published / Created:
1957
Call Number:
MS 650
Container / Volume:
Box 1, folder 21
Image Count:
1
Description:
Top two rows of frames show a large group of unidentified guerrillas clapping and singing while two more guerrillas and an unidentified woman wearing civilian clothes and pants watch. The third row includes several images of a guerrilla drinking water from a common cup. Frames 16-18 show an unidentified guerrilla at his look-out post. Frames 19-21 depict the photographer, St. George. The last row shows unidentified guerrillas in frames 22 and 23 and then two close-up shots of a foreigner, possibly Robert Taber of CBS news, who coincided with St. George on one of his 1957 trips to the Sierra.
From the Collection: Yale University. Department of Manuscripts and Archives
Published / Created:
1957
Call Number:
MS 650
Container / Volume:
Box 1, folder 22
Image Count:
1
Description:
Top row of frames document the skinning of an enormous majá, a native, non-poisonous snake of Cuba. The guerrilla standing on the ground, wearing fatigues and skinning the majá in the foreground as a crowd of guerrillas begins to gather, is Julio Díaz. The second row shows unidentified guerrillas at watch posts. The third through fifth rows of frames show Fidel Castro talking to local peasant scout (in white shirt) as Juan Almeida Bosque (far left) and other unidentified guerrillas look on. The third row also includes a profile shot of Fidel Castro looking out from the window of a peasant hut. Last row of frames shows unidentified guerrilla at look-out post, probably taken at sunset and two frames of Julio Díaz displaying the large majá before it was skinned to fellow soldiers.
From the Collection: Yale University. Department of Manuscripts and Archives
Published / Created:
1957
Call Number:
MS 650
Container / Volume:
Box 1, folder 23
Image Count:
1
Description:
Various images of unidentified guerrillas at look-out posts, aiming their rifles. The third row of frames shows Felipe Guerra Matos sitting in a hammock and eating from a bowl inside a large open-walled hut. Successive frames in the same row show an unidentified guerrilla who appears to be peeling the skin from a small native snake with a knife in his right hand and a spoon in his left. Other frames show guerrillas guarding the campsite.
From the Collection: Yale University. Department of Manuscripts and Archives
Published / Created:
1957
Call Number:
MS 650
Container / Volume:
Box 1, folder 24
Image Count:
1
Description:
Fidel Castro's guerrilla camp in the forests of the Sierra Maestra, near El Naranjo. Top frames show unidentified members of the civilian underground who have just arrived in the mountains. Third through sixth row of frames show unidentified man in a tattered light-colored shirt, possibly a worker captured for questioning from a nearby plantation or military outpost in conversation with Fidel Castro. Although his hands are behind his back in the final frames, they are not tied. Efigenio Ameijeiras (guerrilla in helmet) can be seen in final set of frames. See also Print 11.
From the Collection: Yale University. Department of Manuscripts and Archives
Published / Created:
1957 September
Call Number:
MS 650
Container / Volume:
Box 1, folder 25
Image Count:
1
Description:
Several frames showing a group of guerrillas celebrating the seizure of jeep of the brand "Fargo" from a local farming enterprise. Nearby sits a bus, although it is not clear whether the rebels have also commandeered it. A large family of peasants stands in final frame of top row, flanked by two armed guerrillas. Bottom row of frames show rebels in look-out posts. See also Print 12.
From the Collection: Yale University. Department of Manuscripts and Archives
Published / Created:
1957
Call Number:
MS 650
Container / Volume:
Box 1, folder 27
Image Count:
1
Description:
In the first frame, Fidel Castro, Juan Almeida Bosque and other unidentified guerrillas stand over the burial sites of a recently deceased man. The placing of two pairs of men's shoes in the right-hand corner of disturbed earth would appear to show at least two graves, although only one lies within range of the camera's frame. The young guerrilla in the foreground appears distressed and Almeida Bosque and Castro's eyes follow him as he retreats from the graves. It is likely that these were the graves of the prisoners executed as a result of multiple courts-martial held in El Naranjo. The other two frames show Fidel Castro and Juan Almeida Bosque. See also Prints 15, 18, 19, 29, 30, 31, 33, 35, 36, 37 and 41.