Victims of General Francisco Franco’s regime have been exhumed from mass graves in Paterna where they were buried after the dictator executed his rivals after seizing power in Spain.
The attempt to exhume the buried has been legally active for the last decade, with the descendant’s of the victims seeking funding to have them unearthed, with a goal of delivering closure to them.
It is believed that military and civil guard firing squads shot dead at least 2,238 prisoners according to historian’s research and the cemetery’s records.
The remains are believed to have been thrown into 70 different mass graves and covered in the quicklime, scientifically known as calcium oxide, to seal off the site.
Victims of General Francisco Franco’s regime have been exhumed from mass graves in Paterna where they were buried after the dictator executed his rivals after seizing power in Spain (pictured Anthtopologist volunteers work on the mass grave)
Headstone of victims executed by Franco’s regime are seen at the cementary of Paterna as experts exhume the bodies which buried there in mass graves eight decades ago
Yesterday, graveyard number 112, where two batches of 50 prisoners were inhumed months after the war ended in April 1939 – was the latest to be opened in Paterna.
After days of careful digging underneath a layer of ordinary, casket-burials, piles of skeletons emerged.
Alex Calpe, one of the independent archaeologists working at the site on behalf of relatives those killed, says the experts’ work must be ‘thorough’ because its goal is ‘to deliver closure to the victims’ families.’
The attempt to exhume the buried has been legally active for the last decade, with the descendant’s of the victims seeking funding to have them unearthed, with a goal of delivering closure to them
It is believed that military and civil guard firing squads shot dead at least 2,238 prisoners according to historian’s research and the cemetery’s records
The remains are believed to have been thrown into 70 different mass graves and covered in the quicklime, scientifically known as calcium oxide, to seal off the site
Yesterday, graveyard number 112, where two batches of 50 prisoners were inhumed months after the war ended in April 1939 – was the latest to be opened in Paterna
Remedios Ferrer, granddaughter of anarchist Mariano Brines, whose parents led her to French exile as a 2-year-old and died before discovering Brines’ burial site, said the changes sought by Spain’s new Socialist government are coming too late.
She said: ‘It makes me sad and angry, because it was heart-breaking for my mom, and before her for my grandmother, to know that grandpa was buried here like an animal,’ said Ferrer, now 66. ‘They should be the ones standing here.’
Brines was summarily executed by a firing squad months after Gen. Francisco Franco proclaimed his victory in the 1936-39 Spanish Civil War.
Alex Calpe, one of the independent archaeologists working at the site on behalf of relatives those killed, says the experts’ work must be ‘thorough’ because its goal is ‘to deliver closure to the victims’ families.’
Remedios Ferrer, granddaughter of anarchist Mariano Brines, whose parents led her to French exile as a 2-year-old and died before discovering Brines’ burial site, said the changes sought by Spain’s new Socialist government are coming too late
Brines was summarily executed by a firing squad months after Gen. Francisco Franco proclaimed his victory in the 1936-39 Spanish Civil War
Josefa Peiro, 80 holds a portrait of her father, Jose Peiro. Jose Peiro was executed in Paterna on November 30, 1939 after the finish of Spain’s Civil war under Franco’s regime
According to the family’s account, Brines was buried along with 99 other sympathizers of the fallen republican regime just as the dictatorship cemented its authoritarian grip
According to the family’s account, Brines was buried along with 99 other sympathizers of the fallen republican regime just as the dictatorship cemented its authoritarian grip.
Paterna is a town in the outskirts of coastal Valencia that has prospered in the shadow of an infamous execution wall still standing near the cemetery, holes of bullets still visible among flower bouquets and memorials that locals place to remember the atrocities committed at the site.
Countrywide, the task ahead remains daunting. Mass graves are believed to hold at least 114,000 victims of the Spanish Civil War – in which half a million people are believed to have died on all sides – and the four decades of Francoism that followed.
Paterna is a town in the outskirts of coastal Valencia that has prospered in the shadow of an infamous execution wall still standing near the cemetery, holes of bullets still visible among flower bouquets and memorials that locals place to remember the atrocities committed at the site
Countrywide, the task ahead remains daunting. Mass graves are believed to hold at least 114,000 victims of the Spanish Civil War – in which half a million people are believed to have died on all sides – and the four decades of Francoism that followed
Exhumation efforts began in earnest in 2007 with a new Historic Memory Law that condemned atrocities committed during Franco’s regime, which lasted until 1975
Desamparats Bayona, 88 holds a portrait of her father, Vicente Bayona, as she poses for a portrait at her house on August 29, 2018 in Cullera, Spain. Vicente Bayona was executed in Paterna on November 30, 1939 after the finish of Spain’s Civil war
But the law fell short, leaving it up to local and regional governments to fund exhumations and DNA tests – which were often paid for by relatives through crowd-funding. The previous conservative administration declined to allocate any budget
Exhumation efforts began in earnest in 2007 with a new Historic Memory Law that condemned atrocities committed during Franco’s regime, which lasted until 1975.
But the law fell short, leaving it up to local and regional governments to fund exhumations and DNA tests – which were often paid for by relatives through crowd-funding. The previous conservative administration declined to allocate any budget.
‘This is not a matter of politics, whether left or right-wing this is something that should be done,’ said Carmen Gomez, who leads the association of 42 relatives who pushed for the opening of graveyard number 112, ultimately paid for by a grant last year from the provincial government of Valencia.
Carme Solanes, 82 holds a portrait of her father, Bautista Solanes, as she poses for a portrait on August 29, 2018 in Tavernes, Spain. Bautista Solanes was executed in Paterna on November 30, 1939 after the finish of Spain’s Civil war
‘This is not a matter of politics, whether left or right-wing this is something that should be done,’ said Carmen Gomez, who leads the association of 42 relatives who pushed for the opening of graveyard number 112, ultimately paid for by a grant last year from the provincial government of Valencia
Yesterday, armed with the evidence of remains showing cracked bones suggesting torture or violent deaths, Gomez and Calpe’s team of archaeologists showed up in Paterna’s local courthouse to request authorities to open a criminal investigation
Yesterday, armed with the evidence of remains showing cracked bones suggesting torture or violent deaths, Gomez and Calpe’s team of archaeologists showed up in Paterna’s local courthouse to request authorities to open a criminal investigation.
The group explained that judges tend to dismiss the cases because crimes over 20 years old fall under a 1977 amnesty law that was key in ensuring the country’s peaceful transition to democracy, by protecting officials and members of Franco’s security forces from future prosecution.
Gomez says the amnesty law should be changed, or scrapped altogether, because it deprives their deceased relatives from justice. But the government has not shown any signs of wanting to revisit Franco-era judicial decisions in its efforts to amend the 2007 Historic Memory Law.
‘I’m not looking for punishment for anybody, but we don’t want our relatives to remain criminals in the eyes of history,’ Gomez said.
The group explained that judges tend to dismiss the cases because crimes over 20 years old fall under a 1977 amnesty law that was key in ensuring the country’s peaceful transition to democracy, by protecting officials and members of Franco’s security forces from future prosecution
Gomez says the amnesty law should be changed, or scrapped altogether, because it deprives their deceased relatives from justice. But the government has not shown any signs of wanting to revisit Franco-era judicial decisions in its efforts to amend the 2007 Historic Memory Law
‘I’m not looking for punishment for anybody, but we don’t want our relatives to remain criminals in the eyes of history,’ Gomez said