Children who grew up during the War and lived through the Franco dictatorship. Final Draft.

What happened to the children who witnessed the destruction of the war and watched as it turned their everyday lives into a warzone? What happened to the children who were forced to leave their homeland in hopes of a better life? What happened to the ones that stayed? These were the questions I asked myself after hearing the testimony of Natalie Joga Llopiz. Her testimony did not completely revolve around her childhood, instead she simply told the story of how everything began to change for her from beginning to end. What captured my interest was that at the age of six her life completely changed before it even truly began. 

She began by speaking about her early childhood and how she would walk to school passing her grandparents house every morning. She talked about the cute school girl uniform her mother prepared for her on the mornings before class. She mentioned playing outside with her friends and enjoying her town. Then finally to end her few early childhood memories she talks about the day the man on horseback came to her town telling them to go home because the nationalist are coming. After that, it was one roller coaster of hardships after the other. 

However, unlike other small-town families who turned toward exile or sending their children off to other countries, Natalie’s family stayed together. Many families have all they could to send their children to places like France, Mexico, and even the United States. They knew it was the only option they had if they didn’t want their children growing up in war or during Franco’s regime. Thousands of children became displaced because of the war. They’re only two options were  to either grow up fast or die young. However, children who remained with their families in a somewhat neutral state had their lives shaped by the war like Natalie. 

I prepared a timeline to compare what displaced children were faced with as well as children who stayed and their lives growing up in Franco’s Spain like Natalie.