Salvador Puig Antich

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Salvador Puig i Antich (born May 30, 1948 in Barcelona ; † March 2, 1974 ibid) was a Catalan anarchist .

Monument in Barcelona

Life

Salvador was the third of six children in a working-class family. His father Joaquim Puig belonged to the Acció Catalana group during the second Spanish republic . In 1939 he fled to France , where he was held in the internment camp at Argelès-sur-Mer , but returned to Spain and was sentenced to death there. As a teenager, Salvador attended the religious school La Salle Bonanova , from which he was expelled due to a lack of discipline. At sixteen he took classes at the Institut Maragall night school . Here he made friends with Xavier Garriga and the brothers Oriol and Ignasi Solé Sugranyes, who later all became members of the MIL - Movimiento Ibérico de Liberación ('Iberian Liberation Movement').

Impressed by the events of May 68 in France, he decided to take part in the fight against the Franco regime . His political activity began with the trade union movement Comisiones Obreras (CC.OO.), which he represented on the student council of the 'Institut Maragall . His views quickly turned to anarchist ideas that rejected hierarchies and tutelage in trade union and political organizations in the political struggle for equal rights for the working class .

After enrolling to study economics, he had to do his military service as a medic in Ibiza . He later joined the MIL's military wing . Here he was often a driver in the actions of his group, which mostly robbed banks and used the booty to finance leaflets and supported strikers and imprisoned members. The group moved easily underground and often stayed in France, where they were associated with formerly militant supporters of the anarchist trade union movement Confederación Nacional del Trabajo (CNT).

In August 1973, the group met in France for a meeting of the MIL , in which it was about their self-dissolution. A month later, after another armed bank robbery, a massive wave of searches by the Spanish police began against members of the MIL . Individual members went online, some were severely tortured and used as decoys for their comrades-in-arms.

On September 25, 1973, police attacked 70 Carrer Girona in Barcelona to arrest several MIL activists. This led to an exchange of fire in which Puig Antich was seriously injured and Francisco Anguas Barragán of the Civil Guard was killed. Although there was evidence that the shot did not come from his gun, Puig Antich was sentenced to death on January 7, 1974 for the murder of the Guardia Civil officer . The verdict was passed by a military court and is marked by the regime's thirst for revenge after the successful assassination attempt on the head of government and personal confidante of Franco, Luis Carrero Blanco , on December 20, 1973.

Demonstrations for his release took place in Barcelona and in many other European locations. The Spanish representative to the EEC was warned against the execution of the death sentence. According to Spanish sources, Pope Paul VI. for Puig Antich, as did various Catholic groups in Spain. Franco and his fellow rulers did not respond to any of the interventions .

On March 2, 1974, the sentence was carried out in Modelo prison in Barcelona. The death was brought about by the state-appointed executioner with the help of the garrotte . Together with the GDR refugee Georg Michael Welzel, Puig Antich is the last convicted person to be executed with the garrote in Spain . Puig Antich is buried in the Cementiri de Montjuïc . Today his name is also on one of the many steles in the Montjuïc cemetery, which commemorate the victims of the Franco regime .

His relatives are currently trying to have the process reopened.

For international relations between Germany and Spain, his execution meant that the visit to the sailing training ship Gorch Fock in Vigo , which was actually planned for autumn 1975, was discreetly canceled.

In 2005 the Spanish director Manuel Huerga filmed the life of Salvador Puig Antich. The main role is played by the German actor Daniel Brühl, who was born in Barcelona . Salvador - Fight for Freedom , the German version was released in theaters in September 2007.

Web links

Commons : Salvador Puig Antich  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
personal data
SURNAME Puig Antich, Salvador
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Puig i Antich, Salvador
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Catalan anarchist
DATE OF BIRTH May 30, 1948
PLACE OF BIRTH Barcelona
DATE OF DEATH March 2nd 1974
Place of death Barcelona