Spanish Civil War Memory Project

Summary

Carmen Chicano recounts fleeing with her family on the road to Almería when the Civil War began and retells the fear experienced as they were attacked by ships and planes. She narrates that they fled to Alicante but went to Arijuela after the bombardment, and returned to Vélez when the war ended. Carmen explains that many people were detained, stating that her uncle was imprisoned in Vélez and executed in Málaga. She comments that many people were placed in concentration camps, emphasizing that her brother was put in Caparacena. Carmen details her family's life after the war, noting the hunger as well as her mother's suffering after the Francoists killed her two brothers. She remembers her family members whose bodies have not been recovered because their burial places are unknown. Carmen describes the dictatorship as painful years, underlining the censorship and the daily conditions of vigilance. She tells that people she knew were tortured. Carmen relates wearing black to her wedding in mourning of her family members' deaths. She speaks about Franco's death and the changes that occurred after 1975. Carmen reiterates the difficulties of exhuming and identifying the bodies of her brothers who are buried in mass graves. She recalls her parents' pre-war memories. Carmen discusses the importance of remembering the suffering of the war and instilling awareness of it in the younger generations