Sinaia (ship)
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The Sinaia was a French steamship owned by the Fabre-Line shipping company . It was launched in Glasgow in 1922 . The ship was christened by Marie of Edinburgh , Queen of Romania, who resided in Peleș Castle in the small town of Sinaia . Used to transport people, the Sinaia mainly served the route Marseille - New York . After the end of the Spanish Civil War , the first large group of Spanish Republicans came into exile in Mexico in 1939 , which is why the ship is remembered in both countries to this day. In November 1942, it was confiscated by National Socialist Germany and subsequently converted into a hospital ship. In August 1944 , the Sinaia was sunk as a block ship by the Wehrmacht off Marseille during Operation Dragoon . In 1946 it was lifted and then scrapped.
Transportation of Spaniards in exile to Mexico
The Sinaia set sail on May 25, 1939 in Sète, France, and docked in Veracruz, Mexico on June 13 . During the nineteen-day voyage, there were 307 families on board in addition to the crew, a total of 1599 people, mostly men (953) over 15 years of age, who had fled to France in the final phase of the civil war and were imprisoned there in camps such as the Barcarès internment camp . They escaped this situation by accepting an invitation from the Mexican President Lázaro Cárdenas del Río .
The trip was organized by the Servicio de Evacuación de Refugiados Españoles (SERE) and the Mexican government. The SERE was set up in the last phase of the civil war by the government of Juan Negrín . Among the passengers were people from different classes and professions, including well-known writers, poets, scientists, painters, musicians and politicians who belong to the parties of the republican ruling coalition Partido Comunista de España (PCE), Izquierda Republicana (IR) and Partido Socialista Obrero Español (PSOE) were close.
The following well-known personalities took a. Part of this trip: Aurelio Arteta (painter), Pedro Garfias (poet), Ramón Gaya (painter), Rafael Oropesa (musician), Juana Francisca Rubio (painter and graphic artist), David Seymour (photographer), Adolfo Sánchez Vázquez (philosopher) , Antonio Zozaya (writer).
Due to the overcrowding of the ship, the travel conditions were not very comfortable. The passengers made it easier for themselves to stay on the Sinaia by organizing festivals, concerts, exhibitions and information events through which they found out about the living conditions in Mexico. During the crossing at least one child was born, who was named Susana Sinaia Caparrós in honor of the ship . Eighteen editions of a newspaper appeared on board with the title Sinaia. Diario de la Primera Expedición de Republicanos Españoles a México carried (Sinaia. Daily newspaper of the first expedition of Spanish Republicans to Mexico). The newspaper informed the refugees about life on board and the destination country Mexico.
When the ship arrived at the port of Veracruz, it was greeted by a crowd and an official delegation from the Mexican government.
After the Sinaia , other ships brought Spanish exiles to Mexico, such as the Ipanema (998 passengers) and the Mexique (2200 passengers). By 1942 between 22,000 and 30,000 anti-fascist Spaniards emigrated to Mexico.
In 2018 a street in Madrid was named after Sinaia .
literature
- Adolfo Sánchez Vázquez: Sinaia. Diario de la Primera Expedición de Republicanos Españoles a México . La Oca Editores, SA de CV UNAM 1989. ISBN 968-6364-03-X .
- Reinhart Schmelzkopf: Foreign ships in German hands 1939–1945. Strandgut-Verlag, Cuxhaven 2004, DNB 972151001 .
- Reinhart Schmelzkopf: The French merchant fleet in World War II (VII) - The ships (Rabelais - Ville d'Alger) , In: Strandgut. Materials on the history of shipping , Volume 68, Cuxhaven 2009, pp. 115–148.
- Fernando Serrano Migallón : Los barcos de la libertad. Diarios de viaje del Sinaia, el Ipanema y el Mexique (mayo-julio de 1939) . El Colegio de México , AC 2006. ISBN 968-12-1253-3 .
Web links
- Sinaia at clydeships.co.uk (with photos)
- Diarios del Sinaia . Online documentation of the daily newspaper Sinaia (span.).
- Les navires français avant 1970 (with photo, French)
- LIFE Magazine: Spanish Army in France , July 17, 1939 (Engl.)
- On board the Sinaia at Spanish Music in Exile (with photo, engl.)
- Fabre-Line at timetableimages.com (Eng.)