Echos of the Civil War
Exiled and X-filed
24/March/2007 12:40 .Permalink
Spain has on the surface enjoyed a stable democracy over the last thirty years as part of the new Europe. One could be forgiven for thinking that it has shared the same freedoms as those other member states. But there has always been something missing: The freedom to recall the past.
Loja this week celebrated its 3rd Jornada in the Recuperacion de la memoria historica. As reported on previous occasions when the Immortal Santiago Carillo, and later the infamous dog biter Ian Gibson spoke on this issue, the Teapotmonk was there to monitor their contributions. This 3rd meeting was centered on the role of the political exiles from 1936 onwards. Alfonso Guerra, ex-vice President of Spain for most of the 1980´s was to speak. A man famous for his description of the present president, Jose Luis Zapatero, as ¨Bambi¨.
But it wasn't to hear of Disney animals that such numbers had poured into the town hall this chilly March evening. Snows still covered the peaks of the Sierra Nevada, seen form the plains that surround the town and providing the rush of cold air that swept over the valley. Nevertheless, the Salon was packed with crowds standing in the hallway, straining to hear what he had to say.
It was not, he reminded us, the first time Spaniards had been forced into exile - in clear reference to the post 1492 expulsion of the Jews and the Arabs - but it was the most recent. Once the military rose in July 1936, many that lived in the Pais Vasco - an area that fell quickly to the insurgents - were forced across the border into France where they attempted to re-enter Spain via Catalunia, only to have to leave again when this area fell in 1939. After 3 years of fighting fascism in Spain, they were then faced by the challenge of fighting the same enemy again in the rest of Europe. And fight many did in the hope that at the end, with an Allied victory the troops would inevitably enter Spain and topple the Fascist Dictator in there home country. But such hopes lived on only in their dreams.
Upon entering France in 1939, what awaited the exiles there? Husbands were separated form wives and children, and moved to the beaches where intitally not even a tent was provided to sleep under. And this in the winter of 39. Such camps were known, even by the French, not as camps for refugees, but as concentration camps. Not just because of the scant living conditions, but because of what they may expect from a life there: Franco´s ministers travelled to Germany explicitly to negotiate with the Gestapo for the handing over from France of leading Republican exiles contained in such camps so that they could be returned to Spain, and immediately executed.
A quick tea-break: Such was the case with Luis Campanys, President of Cataluna. He was arrested in France by the Gestapo and handed over to Nationalist Spain in August 1940. He was then found guilty - according to Franco´s Law of Political Responsibility - and was killed by firing squad on the 15th October 1940. He refused to wear a blindfold and was, reputedly, shouting in defiance as the bullets hit him.
For this reason, said Guerra as he finished his speech, that we all owe an enormous debt to those exiles that chose to return to this country: Politically - because they were the direct line back to the Republic, the true lineage to the last real elected Republic of Spain. Culturally - because they came from Spains majestic artistic moment, when many of its greatest artists, writers and poets were forced to flee to to other lands. Morally - because they had fought and lived according to their principles, and not been tainted by the 40 years of dictatorship.
Alfonso was well received, perhaps even forgiven for the slant on Zapatero. He was given a standing ovation, and then the feared for moment arrived when the Alcade brought out the obligatory plaque. Alfonso, being a professional politician, expressed nothing but pleasure and surprise on receipt of the gift - unlike The Gibson who had scorned the token presentation - but that is the difference between a politician and a writer. One cannot live by sneering, whilst the other cannot live by smiling.
Watch: http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid234454000
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The Malaga Exodus
01/February/2007 13:08 .Permalink
One of the great unspoken episodes of the civil war
occurred 70 years ago this week when the population
of Malaga fled along the coast, pursued by
Nationalist troops, bombarded by Italian and german
planes and boats. It has been calculated that over
5000 defenseless refugees were slaughtered as they
fled for safety.
Try to imagine that the city of Malaga is to be evacuated overnight. 150.000 people will have to walk 200km along the N340 in search of a safe refuge whilst being pursued by Italian tanks, bombed by German aircraft and shelled by Rebel Nationalist ships. Men and women shot by planes or killed by blasts from the boats following them off-shore will be left at the roadside, innocent children abandoned to the chaos and inhumanity of adults at war. There will be little food, transport or fresh water. Nourished only by hope and driven by fear, exposed to the elements and to enemy fire, they will walk through the day and through the night. Many will be too weak to reach the safe port of Almería and survive only because a Canadian doctor comes to help. A doctor who will later be accused of spying and betrayal and will be unwillingly pushed out of Spain by the very people he had come to assist.
Read the full story here.
Try to imagine that the city of Malaga is to be evacuated overnight. 150.000 people will have to walk 200km along the N340 in search of a safe refuge whilst being pursued by Italian tanks, bombed by German aircraft and shelled by Rebel Nationalist ships. Men and women shot by planes or killed by blasts from the boats following them off-shore will be left at the roadside, innocent children abandoned to the chaos and inhumanity of adults at war. There will be little food, transport or fresh water. Nourished only by hope and driven by fear, exposed to the elements and to enemy fire, they will walk through the day and through the night. Many will be too weak to reach the safe port of Almería and survive only because a Canadian doctor comes to help. A doctor who will later be accused of spying and betrayal and will be unwillingly pushed out of Spain by the very people he had come to assist.
Read the full story here.
Yet more symbols
04/December/2006 13:04 .Permalink
How is your town covering the 70th Anniversary of the outbreak of the civil war?
As Spain yet again opens it old wounds for public inspection, criticism comes from all quarters. Even other countries are starting to report that Spain is becoming more divided today than at any time over the last 30 years. But is this the full story? (Go here for some background notes)
How far has Spain ever really come to terms with its violent past, when the authorities have never opened up - either because they didn´t want to, or because they were not allowed to - the clandestine history of much of the war and the post war dictatorship.
This is the hub of the debate. For many...such as Santiago Carillo and Ian Gibson the debate has been a long, and fierce struggle to discover the truth and to discover the whereabouts of many disappeared family members from the post war period.
With all that in mind - the sensitivity issue, the historical interpretation issue and the present crispacion, as they say in Spain, between the two major parties - it was a relief to see how one town has dealt with this important anniversary.
An unveiling of a monument, a poem, a small fountain and three benches that spell out a very simple, and unifying word: Paz.
Y ya esta.
pastedGraphic
Santiago Carillo
02/October/2006 12:45 .Permalink
Our first week in town and the place continues to surprise me. Will it always be like this or will complacency set in like everywhere else?
Emerging from Mercadona this evening I spot a hastily hung poster for a meeting this evening in the town hall. Its the first in a series of talks about the Recuperacion de la memoria historica - and this evening Santiago Carillo speaks!
I dropped my bag containing a litre of Don Simon orange juice and the prawn crackers! Santiago Carillo here......now...... and it started 10 mins ago!
We rushed down to the town hall and into the chamber where he was about to begin. Two police guarded the door. Were they expecting trouble? Possibly from some of his previous receptions. We squashed onto the end of an aisle and listened to the man speak clearly and persuasively for a someone of 92 years of age. A historic figure in a historic town!
Would this event have happened on the coast? Does the Pope wear a silly hat?