João Rodrigues Júnior first fought in the Spanish Civil War, on the side of the nationalists, and then donned the uniform of the Blue Division - a volunteer unit formed in Spain - to fight on the eastern front alongside the German forces and against communism.

The story of this Portuguese man was published in the August 1942 edition of the magazine “A Esfera”, a propaganda publication in Portuguese financed by the Germans.

As a legionnaire of the “Tércio” he passed through the battlefields of Teruel, Catalonia and the Ebro. In the interview he also states that during the Spanish Civil War he was wounded twice and on one of those occasions he was temporarily blinded. At the end of the war he continued to serve in the Spanish Foreign Legion, until the war spread to east Europe.

“The war against Russia began. And I, who during the years of the Spanish campaign began to know about the Bolsheviks and their doctrine in the homeland, decided to continue my life as a legionnaire by fighting against them. So as soon as enlistment began in Spain for the Russian campaign, I volunteered,” João Rodrigues Júnior said at the time.

In his description of his unit’s journey to the front, he mentioned the passage through occupied France where they were forced to use their weapons. “A large group, which included several women, booed us and tried to attack the train. We had to use our weapons there for the first time – and several of them fell,” he explained.

The difficulties experienced during the war and the cold on the eastern front are also worth mentioning. The magazine also highlighted the “admirable” German organization and the poor quality of the Russian soldiers. The impression left from the Russian people was not much better: “Poorly dressed, hungry, dirty”.

Research made by the historian Ricardo Silva, who has been mapping the Portuguese presence within the Blue Division for years, revealed that João Rodrigues Júnior was part of one of the first groups to leave Spain for Russia. Several other Portuguese accompanied him, but most were killed or wounded during the fighting.

This Portuguese was evacuated to Spain due to an ulcer. After being treated and recovered, he re-enlisted in the Blue Division. He trained again in Germany, but did not return to the Russian front because he fell ill again and was considered useless for combat.

In August 1943, he returned to Spain, where he died - according to Ricardo Silva - in January 1956.

Carlos Guerreiro