Sir Paul Preston’s review of Damnatio Memoriae
Dear Magdalena,
I write to thank you for sending me your splendid translation of Paco Moreno’s book and also for sending me your own book on your grandfather.
I hope that the English version of a great book will have the diffusion that it deserves. I will certainly give it a plug on my Facebook page.
Yours sincerely,
Paul Preston, London, May, 2018
Sir Paul Preston CBE is an English historian and Hispanist, biographer of Franco, specialist in Spanish history, in particular the Spanish Civil War, which he has studied for more than 30 years. He is the winner of multiple awards for his books on the Spanish Civil War. Since 1991 Professor Preston has taught at the London School of Economics, where he is Príncipe de Asturias Professor of Contemporary Spanish Studies and director of the Cañada Blanch Centre for Contemporary Spanish Studies.
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Linda Ruggles’ review of Damnatio Memoriae
It is often said that history belongs to the victors, that they write the histories and tell the stories from their perspective, focusing on the leaders, political and military. The voices of the common folk, military and civilian, are not heard although they live with the consequences both during and after wars. But it is the stories of these people that resonates with and draws us in and Damnatio Memoriae does that for the Spanish Civil War. As it focuses on those who fought against Franco’s forces and tells the story of the brutal repression of the defeated population afterwards, it resurrects their memory and preserves them from oblivion.
I daresay that most Americans know very little about the Spanish Civil War beyond the fact that there was an American presence – The Abraham Lincoln Brigade and Ernest Hemingway’s war reporting and novel, For Whom the Bell Tolls. Still, we do not know what happened to the Spanish citizens who fought against Franco once the Spanish Civil War was over and for many years afterwards, until his death. What about the rest of the story, the part that disappeared from the headlines with the start of WWII? With the English language publication of Damnatio Memoriae, the stories of the defeated Republicans, half of the Spanish population, are now available to a wider public.
Linda R. Ruggles, PhD
Collegiate Professor, History
University of Maryland University College
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AMESDE - Association for Social and Democratic Memory of Spain - statement
The mission of AMESDE (Association for Social and Democratic Memory of Spain) is to work towards the study and retrieval of the memory of the 20th century as an element of reflection that will shed light upon the interpretation of the events of the 21st century. A work dedicated to the historical memory of the last century, with particular emphasis on the collective organizations that fought under hostile conditions for the recovery and maintenance of democratic values.
In order to attain its objectives, AMESDE organizes a series of activities, frequently in conjunction with other entities such as the Madrid Universidad Complutense, the Blanquema Cultural Center and Fescimec (Cinema Festival for the Democratic Memory). The presentation of books, round tables on Historical Memory topics, reading workshops, exhibition of documentaries, book publication and summer courses are some of AMESDE’s activities.
It is within this context that AMESDE is pleased to collaborate in the launching of Damnatio Memoriae, the English version of La Victoria Sangrienta, 1939-1945 [The Bloody Victory, 1939-1945] by Francisco Moreno Gómez, a historian who has frequently participated in our activities.
Francisco Moreno Gómez belongs to that rich group of Spanish historians who have dedicated themselves to investigating different aspects of the Francoist repression. He is the author of half a dozen books on the anti-Francoist resistance and its correlation with the repression, and of numerous articles in specialized journals, particularly as regards that which occurred in Cordoba and in the province of the same name.
The play Las bicicletas son para el verano [Bicycles are for Summer] by Fernando Fernán Gómez, 1977, ends with Luis, the main character’s words to his son: This is not peace, Luisito: it is victory. A victory that implied that the victors could implement, with impunity, the schemes that fed the July 1936 military uprising. As Gonzalo Aguilera, Franco’s press officer charged with the relations with the foreign reporters, told John Whitaker, an American war correspondent: “We must kill, kill and kill. Did you know that? They are like animals, did you know? There is no point in thinking that they will purge themselves of the virus of Bolshevism. After all, rats and lice are the carriers of the plague. I now hope that you will understand what we mean when we speak of regenerating Spain. […] Our program consists of exterminating one third of the male population of Spain. Thus, we will cleanse the country and rid ourselves of the proletariat.”
By May 1939, the victors did not appear satisfied with the thousands who died in battle, nor with those they murdered behind the lines during the three years of war; nor with the close to a million Spaniards who were forced into exile. They now had a free hand to act indiscriminately against all those they suspected of having, at any time in their lives, indicated that they supported the legitimate Republic of 1931. It is precisely this unbridled repression that Francisco Moreno Gómez addresses in his new book.
With historical precision and with passion, the author attacks the latter-day right-wing pseudo-historians and “equidistant” writers who defend an indiscriminate forgetting of the past, the “shelving” of the entire subject, and last but not least, those studiously engaged in rewriting History based on arguments dating back to the Francoist period. His book rises against the current neofrancoist fashion of claiming that “we all were guilty”, “there was violence on both sides”, “the maquis and guerrillas were no more than hired guns and thieves,” and more, until we reach such absurdities as Jaime Mayor Oreja’s 2007 extraordinary declaration that Francoism was “a period of extreme serenity”. From the beginning, the author reacts against the fallacy of two Spains facing each other in 1936. He reminds us that this was a military coup based on fascist ideals, championed by the most reactionary forces in the country determined to keep ancestral privileges they considered endangered by the political and social actions of the Republic. By citing well-known statements and declarations by Generals Mola, Queipo de Llano, Yagüe and Franco himself, Francisco Moreno shows how after July 1936, the guiding principles of extermination and devastation had become inbred in the insurgents’ DNA.
The author proceeds to illustrate the distinctive faces and shapes with which the repression made itself known during the dark years of Francoism. First fear and terror, silence and ostracism; in case this was not enough, the regime proceeded with physical punishments, humiliation, imprisonment, forced labor, torture and even murder. The culmination of it all consisted not only in the physical disappearance of those who were persecuted but also in their symbolic disappearance in mass or anonymous graves so that their relatives could not identify the dead. Francisco Moreno explains all these procedures at length, providing specific eye-witness depositions and testimonials from the victims and their kin.
We are extremely pleased that Francisco Moreno Gómez’s work is now appearing in this English version of his book. It is one of our country’s great tragedies that many of the claims and demands that he made four years ago are as valid today as when the Spanish edition of his work was published. We are convinced that this new version will enable many people of good will worldwide to better understand and support the efforts of so many Spaniards today to get our country to move forward and respect and implement the ideals of the Historical Memory motto: truth, justice and reparation.
José Manuel Pérez Carrera
Secretary of AMESDE
Madrid, 2018
http://amesde.org
Linda R. Ruggles, PhD
Collegiate Professor, History
University of Maryland University College
I daresay that most Americans know very little about the Spanish Civil War beyond the fact that there was an American presence – The Abraham Lincoln Brigade and Ernest Hemingway’s war reporting and novel, For Whom the Bell Tolls. Still, we do not know what happened to the Spanish citizens who fought against Franco once the Spanish Civil War was over and for many years afterwards, until his death. What about the rest of the story, the part that disappeared from the headlines with the start of WWII? With the English language publication of Damnatio Memoriae, the stories of the defeated Republicans, half of the Spanish population, are now available to a wider public.
Linda R. Ruggles, PhD
Collegiate Professor, History
University of Maryland University College