Hundreds of people in Pamplona remember the Navarrese who died in the civil war

The capital of Navarre hosted this day, coinciding with the anniversary of the Second Republicthree acts in which family members, political parties and trade unions have come together in memory of those who were oppressed by the Franco regime in the civil war, just as has happened in other towns in the community, such as Tudela.

Hundreds of people took part in the traditional act organized by the Association of Relatives of Executed Persons of Navarra (AFFNA-36), which has been reinstated after being suspended for two years due to the situation caused by the pandemic.

In her speech, the chairman of AFFNA-36, Amaia Lerga, recalled that a day like today, April 14, “came a time of hope, a unique era that brought a breath of freedom, social justice and confidence into the future”. However, some “denied us progress by the cruelest methods and with a coup d’état they started a political, ideological, cultural persecution, a genocide.”

“After decades of silence, the horror is being expressed in numbers,” emphasized Lerga, pointing out that in Navarre there are 3507 dead, 1,086 documented cases of property confiscation and 1,400 Navarrezen who “had to flee”. Added to this are the women who “suffered from repressive practices and social control: assaults, kidnappings, exclusion, arrests”.

He also recalled that about 60 bodies have been recovered from graves “that lie in a laboratory waiting for the construction of the new pantheon, as there is no room for more in the present one” and more than 277 families “are still waiting.” to be able recover the remains of their relatives Today”.

Amaia Lerga has a special memory of “the boys and girls of the war” who “went hungry”, who “had to flee”, who were “in many cases orphaned prematurely” and who were “marked as sons or daughters of Reds, were prisoners or slaves in Franco’s boarding schools or sanatoriums”.

“These people are the generation of grandfathers and grandmothers who, despite experiencing terror, have restored the dignity of these people through their life stories. They have been the memory of the dead,” emphasized the president of AFFNA -36.

For example, he has called for “recognition of them and the adoption of comprehensive remedial measures in the” Democratic Memory Account

Likewise, he has demanded that “the claims of the victims’ families” be put on the political agenda with concrete actions “often disproportionately delayed”, exemplified by the adoption of a motion in 2017 calling for the reinstatement of the victims’ families. door of the old prison of Pamplona or that “the pantheon of the victims has been full since 2019”.

Memory as an “essential tool” for peaceful coexistence

Maite Rocafort, granddaughter of Javier Rocafort, who was executed by firing squad near the site, also took the floor and thanked those present for the memory of “the memory of my grandfather and of so many other victims of reprisals who were killed unjustly.” .” and with impunity in Navarre”.

“No one is silent about this anymore,” Rocafort emphasized, adding that “a lot of people have worked not to forget this and are being told, in parliaments, in city councils, in books and in schools”. Memory, he has said, “is a… essential tool to make progress in building a peaceful coexistence and we know that you, grandfather, would have agreed”.

In this sense he has appreciated the work of Roberto Rocafort -who died seven years ago-, the son of Javier Rocafort, together with AFFNA-36 “so that this kind of tribute could one day become a reality”. A job that allowed “your daughter Mari Ángeles to witness last December how a plaque in memory of you was placed in the house where they took you never to return”.