They find in Begoña the remains of 42 who disappeared during the civil war, most of them gudaris and militiamen

In the to date largest grave excavated in Euskadithe remains of 46 people have been found, of whom 42 disappeared victims, most of them gudaris and militia members.

The Gogora Memory Institute is now working to identify the excavated remains and in turn has called on families who have indications that their relative died while defending Bilbao to contact the Institute.

It was known that in Begoña there are remains of people whose deaths are situated in the context of the civil war. In recent weeks, however, the team at the Aranzadi Science Society has found a large mass grave from the time that was unknown, as no documentation points to it. For example, the existence of war-related graves in the cemetery was known, most of them in individual graves, but there was no documentation about this disappeared.

This intervention at the cemetery of Begoña was carried out in the context of the Begoñako Argia Project of the Bilbao City Council, promoted by the Aranzadi Science Society.

Beatriz Artolazabal, Minister of Equality, Justice and Social Policy of the Basque Government, appeared before the media this Wednesday, along with Juan Mari Aburto, Mayor of Bilbao and Juantxo Agirre, Secretary General of the Aranzadi Science Society, to report about the excavations that have been carried out. to date, under the project.

“In total, this large mass grave contains the human remains of 42 victims who have not been registered and have therefore remained missing until today,” emphasizes adviser Beatriz Artolazabal.

numerous materials

A lot of material was recovered during the excavation work: coins, personal belongings, boots, belt buckles and a total of five identification labels.

Everything indicates that they died between 15 and 18 June 1937 during the defense of Bilbao, probably in the Battle of Artxanda These gudaris and militiamen were buried in Begoña, without any kind of record for the impending fall of the city.

An initial cleaning of the identification plates found in the grave indicates to which battalions the deceased might belong. As Artolazabal has advanced, they can be gudaris of the San Andres Battalion, a unit of Eusko Gudarostea associated with the nationalist trade union Solidaridad de Trabajadores Vascos; archers of the Jean Jaures Battalion, affiliated with the General Workers’ Union; and it is also believed that there may be anarchist militia members

Divided into four contiguous parts

The large mass grave, to which no documentation refers, is divided into four contiguous parts: a first part with two individuals, a second part with two other individuals, a third part with 17 individuals and a fourth part with 25 individuals.

The excavation work is not yet complete., there are still seven gudaris and republican militiamen to be won in the Santa Teresa area and two rebel bank fighters in the Santa Lucía area. Their digs will be discussed in the coming weeks.

Through Gogora we continue to perform DNA testing on all the remains that have appeared, which will be crossed with the DNA of relatives of war victims buried in the cemetery of Begoña.