Asociación para la Recuperación de la Memoria Histórica

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Excavation of a mass grave by the ARMH.

The Asociación para la Recuperación de la Memoria Histórica (Association for the Reclamation of Historical Memory; ARMH ) is a Spanish association in Ponferrada , whose aim is the search for disappeared victims of the Francoist repression. It primarily concerns people who were murdered by Falangists and disposed of anonymously or buried. She also collects oral and written testimonies about the victims of the dictatorship.

The reason for the foundation was the first excavation of a mass grave in Priaranza del Bierzo ( province of León ) in December 2000. The exhumation took place at the request of the family of one of the victims who wanted to find and bury their relatives - Emilio Silva Faba. The grave contained the remains of thirteen civilians who were murdered on October 16, 1936. The work was carried out by a group of scientists, Emilio Silvo Faba emerged from them as the first victim of the Spanish civil war to be identified by means of a DNA sample.

After the exhumation of his relative, Emilio Silva Barrera founded the ARMH together with Santiago Macias. The organization brings together archaeologists, anthropologists and forensic scientists. By talking to locals, they try to locate the places of execution and mass graves. Further graves could be found through road construction measures or anonymous information. During the excavations, archaeological and forensic methods are used to identify the dead and hand them over to their families.

In September 2006, the ARMH carried out 40 excavations and found the remains of 520 victims. An excavation near Burgos was the subject of a photo documentation by the International Center of Photography in New York under the title "Dark is the Room Where We Sleep".

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Mike Elkin - " Opening Franco's Graves " (Archeology September / October 2006)
  2. ^ International Center of Photography