Spanish Civil War Memory Project

Summary

Eugenio Cordero was born in Madrid in 1939. Eugenio recalls being told that his father died during the Civil War, but does not know on which side he fought. Eugenio relates that his mother worked during the dictatorship. He attended a social aid school of the Falange until he was fourteen years old and began working. Eugenio details his involvement with various politically active groups, some of which had contacts in France. Specifically, he speaks about his participation in a group with anarchist sympathies that was however not affiliated with the Confederación Nacional del Trabajo (National Labor Confederation). Eugenio explains that the group led a failed attempt to mobilize the masses through the screening of a video in a theater. As a result, he was detained in the Burgos Prison for six years. Eugenio describes the conditions of life in Burgos, commenting on the illnesses, the political organization, and the educational opportunities found within the prison. He recounts working as the film projector in Burgos and states that the prisoners stopped going to the theater as a means of protest following the execution of Julián Grimau. Eugenio discusses the founding of the Asociación de Ex-presos y Represaliados Políticos Antifranquistas (Association of Former Political Prisoners and Anti- Francoist Fighters) and the work accomplished by this organization