Orwell was accused of treason in Spain
Another interesting fact about George Orwell is that Orwell was accused of treason in Spain. On or around December 23, 1936, Orwell left for Spain. After a time at the Lenin Barracks in Barcelona, he was assigned to Georges Kopp's comparatively peaceful Aragon Front. Orwell has immediately promoted to corporal thanks to his Cadet Corps and police training. When a British ILP Contingent arrived three weeks later, Orwell and the other English militiaman, Williams, were assigned to Monte Oscuro.
Orwell returned to Barcelona in April. He sought a Communist buddy assigned to the Spanish Medical Aid and described his situation, hoping to be deployed to the Madrid front, which meant he "must join the International Column." Orwell was caught up in the factional strife during the Barcelona May Days. He spent much of his time on a roof with a stack of literature, but during his visit, he ran into Jon Kimche from his Hampstead days. The Communist press's following campaign of deception and distortion, in which the POUM was accused of collaborating with fascists, had a major impact on Orwell. Instead of joining the International Brigades, he chose to return to the Aragon Front. After the battle in May finished, he was approached by a Communist buddy who inquired if he still planned to join the International Brigades. Orwell expressed surprise that they still wanted him because the Communist press labeled him a fascist.
By the middle of June, the political situation in Barcelona had deteriorated, and the POUM (portrayed as a Trotskyist organization by pro-Soviet Communists) was illegal and under attack. According to the Communist viewpoint, the POUM were "objectively" Fascist, stifling the Republican cause A particularly heinous poster arose, depicting a POUM mask-clad head being pulled off to reveal a Swastika-covered face beneath." Members were imprisoned, including Kopp, and others went into hiding. Orwell and his wife were under threat and had to remain hidden, though they did break cover to assist Kopp.
Finally, with their passports in order, they fled Spain by rail, stopping briefly in Banyuls-Sur-Mer before returning to England. Orwell returned to Wallington in the first week of July 1937; on 13 July 1937, a deposition was delivered to the Tribunal for Espionage and High Treason in Valencia, alleging the Orwells with "rabid Trotskyism" and being POUM agents. In October and November 1938, the leaders of the POUM and Orwell (in his absence) were tried in Barcelona. Orwell commented on events in French Morocco, saying they were "only a by-product of the Russian Trotskyist trials and from the start, every kind of lie, including flagrant absurdities, has been circulated in the Communist press."
