Day of Homage to the Spaniards deported and killed in Mauthausen and other camps and to all the victims of Nazism in Spain

The Council of Ministers of the Spanish Government, held on 26 April 2019, agreed to establish 5 May as the Day of Homage to the Spaniards deported and killed in Mauthausen and other camps and to all victims of Nazism in Spain, a laudable measure that contributes to multiplying tributes, in towns and cities throughout Spain, to their neighbours who were victims of the National Socialist regime. The date coincides with the liberation in 1945 of the Mauthausen camp in Austria, where most of the Spanish deportees were interned, and where – in the annexed Gusen camp – most of them died. A measure that responded to the long-awaited demand of our association, which, founded in 1962 in clandestinity by survivors, widows, children and friends, maintains the memory and the anti-fascist and democratic legacy of the Spanish victims of Nazism.

Of the half a million Spaniards who, in January and February 1939, crossed the Pyrenees in inhumane conditions from Catalonia, when the victory of the military rebels was in sight, to end up crowded on the beaches of Roussillon or dispersed throughout France, some 10,000 men and women ended up deported to Nazi concentration camps, either because they had been captured by the German army while defending France from the invaders or because they had actively participated in the Resistance movements.

The aim of this commemoration is to:

• – to honour, vindicate and promote the collective memory of these Spaniards – the first European anti-fascist fighters – and to recognise the privileged place they hold not only in our democratic history but also in European history, for their defence of democracy and freedom,
• to uphold their oath for a peaceful world, when armed conflicts continue to bring death and destruction to the civilian population, appealing once again to international solidarity as a good to be protected worldwide, and to become a vigilant memory against messages and messages of violence.
• to become a vigilant memory against threatening messages and insidiousness of extreme right-wing parties and neo-fascist social movements, which are becoming increasingly important because of their ability to unite a part of society, dissatisfied with the limited response of conventional politics to its needs.©Amical de Mauthausen

The minister Raquel Sánchez participates in the event organised to mark the Day of Homage to the Spaniards deported and killed in Mauthausen and other camps and to all the victims of Nazism in Spain, held at the monolith in Nuevos Ministerios, Madrid.