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Uncovering the Tragic Legacy of the Spanish Civil War: The Challenges and Controversies of Exhuming Mass Graves.

The Spanish Civil War and its impact on families, including the devastating consequences of mass graves, has led to growing interest in exhuming victims to identify those who lost their lives during the conflict.

Published onMay 05, 2023
Uncovering the Tragic Legacy of the Spanish Civil War: The Challenges and Controversies of Exhuming Mass Graves.

The lives of hundreds of thousands of people were devastated by the Spanish Civil War. Many of these individuals were buried in mass graves, highlighting the tragic consequences of the conflict. Recently, there has been a growing interest in exhuming these victims of fascism and identifying the individuals who sacrificed all for the Republican cause. Recounting these stories is essential to bringing closure to the victims' families and acknowledging the atrocities committed during the Franco regime. The 2010 interview with Mercedes Iglesias Serrano sheds light on the tragic story of her grandfather's disappearance in 1936. Serrano and her siblings are eager to locate their grandfather's remains, believed to be in Monumento, one of the estimated 2,600 mass graves in San Fernando Cemetery, Seville. While the city council has promised to excavate Monumento in the 2023 budget, the exhumation process is challenging and controversial. The story of Serrano's grandfather is just one of the many that illustrate the complexities surrounding the Spanish Civil War[1].

By employing the Pact of Silence, the Francoist regime stifled discourse about its brutal actions, leaving numerous families uninformed about what happened to their relatives. The enforcement of the Pact severely harmed many families including Mercedes Iglesias's, leaving her with scant information about her grandfather. Her grandfather, José Serrano Vela, was believed to be taken away, beaten so brutally that his eyes came out, and potentially killed in 1936. With only one witness not named in the interview, there is little to go on past hearsay; despite her grandmother's account that the fascists killed him, Iglesias never learned much about it when she was young, and her mother was too afraid to speak about it. Despite the lack of information Iglesias and her family remain hopeful as they search for her grandfather's remains[2].

Many believe that exhumation is critical in recognizing the war crimes committed during the rule of Franco and providing historical justice. Spain's Democratic Memory Law, established in 2007, is pivotal in addressing the nation's turbulent past under the Franco regime. This legislation aims to provide justice for victims and their families through financial compensation, exhumation of mass graves, and removal of Franco-era symbols from public spaces. By incorporating educational initiatives about the Spanish Civil War and the dictatorship, the law seeks to enlighten the public and promote a deeper understanding of the historical context[3]. Although some critics argue that the law falls short of fully confronting the devastation of the Franco era, the Democratic Memory Law remains an essential foundation for fostering a society rooted in democratic values, human rights, and a collective commitment to progress. Even though the Spanish government has taken measures to address the regime's legacy the fate of these initiatives remains uncertain[4].

Throughout Spain, around 130,000 people remain in unidentified locations due to the brutality of the fascists in the Franco regime. During the war, soldiers shot 90,000 of these victims, while another 40,000 faced the same fate in the post-war period.  Many families like Mercedes Iglesias Seranno have recently made efforts to exhume these victims and identify them so they can offer a sense of resolution to their families while acknowledging the atrocities committed during the Franco regime. The exhumation process is challenging and controversial, and the story of Serrano's grandfather illustrates the complexities surrounding the Spanish Civil War. Families like the Serranos exemplify the ongoing struggle for emotional resolution and the importance of confronting the past to establish a more equitable and fair society in the present and future[5].

The search for justice and closure for the victims and their families continues as the Spanish government attempts to address the crimes against humanity committed during the rule of Franco through legislation such as the Democratic Memory Law. Despite the estimated 130,000 victims buried in unidentified locations throughout Spain, the lack of DNA analysis has only identified 0.2% in the last 20 years. However, recovering approximately 20,000 individuals from the mass graves that still need to be exhumed is possible. Institutional support could genetically identify as few as 5,000 to as many as 7,000 individuals. Air society in the present and future. Despite the uncertain future of the Democratic Memory Law and its potential repeal, Spain must continue to address the regime's legacy to move forward[6].

 

 

 

 

 

Bibliography

Cabrera , Luis Martín. “Testimony of Mercedes Iglesias Serrano, Interview.” UC San Diego Library | Digital Collections. Accessed May 1, 2023. https://library.ucsd.edu/dc/object/bb7987609b.

Francisco Ferrándiz, “Exhuming the Defeated: Civil War Mass Graves in 21st-Century Spain,” American Ethnologist 40, no. 1 (2013): 38–54, accessed April 17, 2023, http://www.jstor.org/stable/23357955.

Graham Keeley, “How Mass Graves like Pico Reja Haunt Present-Day Spain,” euronews, February 7, 2023, https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2023/02/07/inside-a-real-life-chamber-of-horrors-how-mass-graves-like-pico-reja-haunt-present-day-spa.

Lorraine Williamson, “Seville Plans to Open the Largest Mass Grave in Western Europe,” InSpain.news, January 21, 2023, https://inspain.news/seville-plans-to-open-the-largest-mass-grave-in-western-europe/.

Luis Martín Cabrera, “Testimony of Mercedes Iglesias Serrano,” UC San Diego Library | Digital Collections, accessed April 10, 2023, https://library.ucsd.edu/dc/object/bb7987609b.

“Making Amends: Can Spain's Historical Memory Law Truly Provide Reparation for the Francoist Regime?,” February 16, 2022. https://www.theverdictonline.org/post/making-amends.

Serrulla, F. and F. Etxeberria. "Recommendations regarding the official processes of exhumation and forensic investigation of the mass graves from the Spanish Civil War and the dictatorship." In Democratic Memory. Mass graves and exhumations. Exhumations from the Spanish Civil War and the Francoist Dictatorship 2000-2019. The Ministry of the Presidency Technical General Secretariat edited the current status and future recommendations. Publishing Center. Madrid: Ministry of the Presidency Technical General Secretariat, 2020. Accessed April 19, 2023. https://www.mpr.gob.es/memoriademocratica/notas-informativas/Documents/Exhumaciones_Guerra_Civil_accesible_BAJA.pdf.

“Spain Discovers Two Mass Graves of Civil War Victims in Belchite .” euronews, October 25, 2021. https://www.euronews.com/2021/10/25/spain-discovers-two-mass-graves-of-civil-war-victims-in-belchite#:~:text=According%20to%20experts%20and%20memory,in%20the%20post%2Dwar%20period.



[1] Lorraine Williamson, “Seville Plans to Open the Largest Mass Grave in Western Europe,” InSpain.news, January 21, 2023, https://inspain.news/seville-plans-to-open-the-largest-mass-grave-in-western-europe/.

[2] Luis Martín Cabrera, “Testimony of Mercedes Iglesias Serrano,” UC San Diego Library | Digital Collections, accessed April 10, 2023, https://library.ucsd.edu/dc/object/bb7987609b

[3] Francisco Ferrándiz, “Exhuming the Defeated: Civil War Mass Graves in 21st-Century Spain,” American Ethnologist 40, no. 1 (2013): accessed April 17, 2023, http://www.jstor.org/stable/23357955. 38–54

[4]Graham Keeley, “How Mass Graves like Pico Reja Haunt Present-Day Spain,” euronews, February 7, 2023, https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2023/02/07/inside-a-real-life-chamber-of-horrors-how-mass-graves-like-pico-reja-haunt-present-day-spa

[5]“Spain Discovers Two Mass Graves of Civil War Victims in Belchite ,” euronews, October 25, 2021, https://www.euronews.com/2021/10/25/spain-discovers-two-mass-graves-of-civil-war-victims-in-belchite#:~:text=According%20to%20experts%20and%20memory,in%20the%20post%2Dwar%20period.

[6] F. Serrulla and F. Etxeberria, "Recommendations regarding the official processes of exhumation and forensic investigation of the mass graves from the Spanish Civil War and the dictatorship," in Democratic Memory. Mass graves and exhumations. Exhumations from the Spanish Civil War and the Francoist Dictatorship 2000-2019. Current status and future recommendations, ed. Ministry of the Presidency Technical General Secretariat. Publishing Center (Madrid: Ministry of the Presidency Technical General Secretariat, 2020), https://www.mpr.gob.es/memoriademocratica/notas-informativas/Documents/Exhumaciones_Guerra_Civil_accesible_BAJA.pdf 140-141

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