INTRO:
Spain 70 years after the civil war at last ending a pact of silence that has meant nothing has been discussed about the legacy of Franco dictatorship
VALLE DE LOS CAIDOS PIX
High in the mountains, half an hours drive from the Spanish capital, Madrid, is a massive monument.
The giant cross marks the burial place of the Dictator, General Franciso Franco. In 1936 Franco led a military uprising against the Left-Wing Republican government. His Nationalist forces won the Civil War that followed and he ruled the country for almost 40 years in a military dictatorship.
I used to live in Spain and this place underlined for me just how Spains military past still haunts the present. Inside the rock, underneath the cross, is a vast Cathedral. Behind the altar is Francos Grave - there are always fresh flowers here.
Wides Ucles
Drive to the other side of Madrid and you will find a very different kind of memorial. The 16th Century Monastry of Ucles was a place of sanctuary for Republicans during the civil war but after Francos victory it became a prison for his opponents and a killing ground..
MM Top shot walk
MM V/O
Explins about what went on
Gate
Now this place is a mass grave.. One of many across Spain. Maximo Molina has his own reasons for being interested, his grandfather was a victim of Francos Nationalists
Have a pic here of my grandfather its like his ghost been with me all my life.. some said he was a communist, some said an anarchist.. I knew nothing
Thru gate cut to.. digging
V/O
Since Franco died more than 30 years ago there has been a nationwide pact of silence preventing discussion about abuses that happened on both sides of the conflict .. But this pact has left a vast section of society feeling isolated from society
MM
These people have got monuments. We have no memorials.. people used to toss ashes over wall just to be laid to rest with their loved ones..
The divisions and distrust that remain in Spanish society were exposed earlier this year when the head of the Spanish army, Lt General Jose Mena Aguado, gave a speech suggesting the armed forces might once again take a hand in politics
Mix to Catalonia demo pix
The Mena speech centred on a demand by Catalonia, a region in the North East of the country, for greater autonomy from Madrid and the status of a Nation within Spain. [Catalans took to the streets of their capital, Barcelona, in support of the plans but most other Spaniards were opposed the idea of this wealthy region breaking away] And General Mena said the army was constitutionally bound to defend the unity of Spain and would be forced to step in if the government bowed to Catalonias demands. . Hed raised the spectre of a military coup. The country was shocked and he was sacked:
Conde
SYNC JC 3: General Menas speech took everyone in Spain by surprise .. it was tough and attention grabbing . People in Spain arent used to hearing a General talk like that. But Spanish people arent used to hearing about a region breaking away either and Catalonia changing its statute. If things are done by the rules, constitutionally, speeches like this wont be necessary. All General Mena did was to consider what MIGHT have to happen if things are not done the right way.
Col Jose Conde, is from a staunchly military family
His father and his uncles fought for Franco during the Civil War. He was a Cavalry Officer for over 30 years and two of his sons are soldiers.
These days the Colonel runs the conservative Spanish Military Association Now hes campaigning to defend the honour of General Mena who is also a personal friend.
JC 2: Hes a good man, he has practically no faults. Hes had a brilliant career and his record is spotless. Every single task hes been given, he has performed perfectly.
But do you think its right that a General should be able to speak about this very political matter ?
Its totally and fully correct. Its one thing for a General not to talk about poltical issues and a different thing for him not to talk about what is happening in Spain nowadays. The Statute of Catalonia is a problem in all our hearts.
Are you in a minority thinking this, or do large numbers of officers in the army today, not just retired officers like yourself, feel this way?
I honestly believe, and I insist I believe it from the bottom of my heart, that the majority is with General Mena and with me.
POOL HALL PIX
You might expect a man of Condes generation to feel that way, but what of the younger soldiers?
YOUNG SOLDIER OVERLAY
I am 20 years old, I live in Madrid, Im from Sevilla, where my family lives. I spend my spare time in the gym where I train or in here playing pool.
LINK
Ive come to this pool hall off Madrids Gran Via, to meet a young, off duty solider. He doesnt want to give his name or show his face but hes agreed to talk to me about how soldiers of his generation feel about the governments treatment of their boss., Does he think the majority in the army support General Mena?
Not the majority EVERY soldier supports General Mena
-Everybody?
Because its totally irrational, that they should start trying to divide the Nation itself.
-Do you understand why some people felt threatened by what GM said?
I do not understand it, because what we in the Army do is to defend the nations unity nothing else. I dont know what can have crossed peoples mind to make them fear their own Army. We simply defend the nations unity, and that is our basis - that and the Spanish Constitution. There is nothing else.
SKULL BEING DUG UP
But not everyone feels that trust in the military. Volunteer archaeologists are exhuming victims of the previous military involvement in politics every day here at the mass grave in Ucles
31.22 My reaction was shock.. not expected. A little bit scared. .. Look at Spanish history, the military have done nothing for Spanish democracy, only react violently. I worry a little.
DIGGING STUFF
The bodies that are being exhumed are from the period of military repression that followed here the civil war. Across Spain the number of victims being found in unmarked graves is climbing towards 200,000.. theyve already made some gruesome finds
28.11 We found 2 graves over there one with 2 bodies one with 4 all had been shot in head, could see they were dumped in from a wheelbarrow, strange gestures.. even had a pig buried on top of them.. lack of respect
24.52 Need as much info as poss from each person keep everything..
26.24 cos can document how it happened, tortured, how treated..
This dig is organised by the non governmental association for restoring historical memory. an organisation committed to identifying victims of political violence and forcing Spain to confront the facts of what the military dictatorship did.
Maximo has a particular interest in what is being found, his grandfather and great grandfather were both shot by Nationalist forces. His family had been supporters of the Republican govt that was overthrown by Francos coup.
8.0 People had been given land by the Rep Govt which was then collectivised my grandfather was manager. There were 60 people in June 36, by Nov only 16. In my mothers village 180 killed out of 5000.
6.20 I visited the place he was shot they wre left at the sides of the road to terrorise people. Then there was a kind of meat lorry - he wsa buried along with 600 others
That was 70 years ago, bit the fear remains. There are real concerns about implicatins of the association disturbing the pact of silence..
11.50 We started digging 7th July 2004, on Sunday mother called saying be careful she was worried that we wre doing it.
12.35 Number of times told you are going to end up like yr gr father.
Now with the Socialist government beginning to break the 30 year pact of silence about the abuses, in part two Ill be asking what will be the impact on modern day Spain ?
DUR:
PART II
PRECIADOS CROWDS
The scale and pace of change in Spain since General Francos death in 1975 have been impressive. This is a thriving democracy at the political heart of Europe.
The current government is certainly keen to remove all traces of the days when the military where in charge.
There used to be a statue of General Franco on horseback on this plinth outside the Ministry for the Environment but its been taken down. And they are starting to address the pact of silence.
But some say its thanks to the pact of silence that Spain has grown so quickly from a country riven by civil war and dictatorship into a modern liberal democracy.
Jose Conde
I dont understand . Success of our democracy is all down to military doing such a great job after Franco died
CONDE AT HOME
Col Condes house is a shrine to his conservative Catholic life and traditional Spanish values
He says that the way people are now viewing the period of military power disregards the realities of the past and that people are wrong to disparage the military in the way they do.
Time passes Spain came out of a civil war - we all know how it happened, we know who won and how he stayed in power. I wont say anything about this, but here was a nation that followed him. There werent huge revolts, there were no political parties not because they were banned, but because they didnt existed. The Military did a lot of useful things in power.
Cathedral
And Col Cones not alone..
At General Francs vast mausoleum outside Madrid elderly Spaniards still come to hear mass and pay their respects to the dictator.
FRANCO FOUNDATION
And here at the Foundation set up in Francos honour, they are happy to show me the mementos of the military dictator lovingly displayed in the foyer.
Under the previous govt the foundation got a grant for its work preserving as they see it - a true record of the Generals life and times. But of course they make no mention of the mass graves.
Mire usted es producto de una Guerra civil
You see this is a consequence of the civil war .
But this was after the war
Theres an explanation for the repression after the war. The Civil War produced a series of acts lets call them acts of vandalism on both sides because thats what Civil War is like. But in the Republican Red zone, tremendous atrocities were committed .In Spain we reached a point where we do not want to dig up the past.
DIGGING AND MM LOOKING THOUGHTFUL
MM SYNC
23.10 I believe it must be a really evil person if they think it is right to have country full of people buried at roadside in pitiful graves like this.
35.23 We have a country full of mass graves how can we ignore it?
But ignored it has been, for 70 years.. I asked some of the student volunteers working at the graves, if they were taught anything about this period in school:
Sync..34.30 No. At school didnt learn anything a bit in college..
MORE OVER GIRL
35.42 They werent covering up but smoothing it over in supposed objectivity so in the end they did cover up real story.
The volunteers are careful to preserve all the evidence they can. More than just returning the bodies of loved ones to their relatives, they want to be able to tell the true story of how these people died.
MM
19.50 Unless we get these people back into soc, want to recover relvs dignity. People wont rest.. silence lead to restlessness, impression that waiting til everyone is dead so no-one left to give account
UCLES VILLAGE
In Ucles the old people do still remember what happened.
This beautiful little village lived through a time of fear and threats. Many here know of people who disappeared. One man told me he remembers seeing a woman burnt to death in this very square.
Academic
Like all those who work for the association, Maximo is a volunteer, in his real life he runs this language academy. He is trying to record as many testimonies as he can before the old people die with their memories.
In academy
Today Valeriano Fernandez is describing how his father was shot here in Ucles. And two of his uncles were shot in Madrid. He tells Maximo, how after his father was killed the entire family were terrorised.
They arrived at midnight looking for my uncle, threatening if my uncle was not there wed all be killed.. they arrived at midnight.. pulling blankets off looking for uncle.. everyone was scared.
Since then Valerianos mother has had nowhere to go to mourn her husband, there was no acknowledgemnet of what happened to him..
Now I feel a tingle down my spine, I feel tense and nervous when I think about them finding my fathers remains and saying this is him. But I am hoping that it will happen.
Grave
MM
20.36They say we are reopening the wounds, but the wounds are open they are open and infected.. bad for nations health. Need to clean wounds by talk.. expose them to fresh air to close them forever.
22.50 In Spain thre are people who say we must turn page.. but its not been written yet, only then can we turn the page.
LINK
But despite appearances the past may not be another country. With the prospect of other regions following Catalonias lead to autonomy, Colonel Conde, still doesnt rule out the possibility of the army intervening to stop what they perceive as a threat to Spain just as it did in the past:
Lets imagine that things get worse and a part of our beloved land declares independence and the soldiers are ordered to respect this situation then watch out! Because at this point something very serious could happen. I am not saying that is going to happen, but it could.
END
Spain 70 years after the civil war at last ending a pact of silence that has meant nothing has been discussed about the legacy of Franco dictatorship
VALLE DE LOS CAIDOS PIX
High in the mountains, half an hours drive from the Spanish capital, Madrid, is a massive monument.
The giant cross marks the burial place of the Dictator, General Franciso Franco. In 1936 Franco led a military uprising against the Left-Wing Republican government. His Nationalist forces won the Civil War that followed and he ruled the country for almost 40 years in a military dictatorship.
I used to live in Spain and this place underlined for me just how Spains military past still haunts the present. Inside the rock, underneath the cross, is a vast Cathedral. Behind the altar is Francos Grave - there are always fresh flowers here.
Wides Ucles
Drive to the other side of Madrid and you will find a very different kind of memorial. The 16th Century Monastry of Ucles was a place of sanctuary for Republicans during the civil war but after Francos victory it became a prison for his opponents and a killing ground..
MM Top shot walk
MM V/O
Explins about what went on
Gate
Now this place is a mass grave.. One of many across Spain. Maximo Molina has his own reasons for being interested, his grandfather was a victim of Francos Nationalists
Have a pic here of my grandfather its like his ghost been with me all my life.. some said he was a communist, some said an anarchist.. I knew nothing
Thru gate cut to.. digging
V/O
Since Franco died more than 30 years ago there has been a nationwide pact of silence preventing discussion about abuses that happened on both sides of the conflict .. But this pact has left a vast section of society feeling isolated from society
MM
These people have got monuments. We have no memorials.. people used to toss ashes over wall just to be laid to rest with their loved ones..
The divisions and distrust that remain in Spanish society were exposed earlier this year when the head of the Spanish army, Lt General Jose Mena Aguado, gave a speech suggesting the armed forces might once again take a hand in politics
Mix to Catalonia demo pix
The Mena speech centred on a demand by Catalonia, a region in the North East of the country, for greater autonomy from Madrid and the status of a Nation within Spain. [Catalans took to the streets of their capital, Barcelona, in support of the plans but most other Spaniards were opposed the idea of this wealthy region breaking away] And General Mena said the army was constitutionally bound to defend the unity of Spain and would be forced to step in if the government bowed to Catalonias demands. . Hed raised the spectre of a military coup. The country was shocked and he was sacked:
Conde
SYNC JC 3: General Menas speech took everyone in Spain by surprise .. it was tough and attention grabbing . People in Spain arent used to hearing a General talk like that. But Spanish people arent used to hearing about a region breaking away either and Catalonia changing its statute. If things are done by the rules, constitutionally, speeches like this wont be necessary. All General Mena did was to consider what MIGHT have to happen if things are not done the right way.
Col Jose Conde, is from a staunchly military family
His father and his uncles fought for Franco during the Civil War. He was a Cavalry Officer for over 30 years and two of his sons are soldiers.
These days the Colonel runs the conservative Spanish Military Association Now hes campaigning to defend the honour of General Mena who is also a personal friend.
JC 2: Hes a good man, he has practically no faults. Hes had a brilliant career and his record is spotless. Every single task hes been given, he has performed perfectly.
But do you think its right that a General should be able to speak about this very political matter ?
Its totally and fully correct. Its one thing for a General not to talk about poltical issues and a different thing for him not to talk about what is happening in Spain nowadays. The Statute of Catalonia is a problem in all our hearts.
Are you in a minority thinking this, or do large numbers of officers in the army today, not just retired officers like yourself, feel this way?
I honestly believe, and I insist I believe it from the bottom of my heart, that the majority is with General Mena and with me.
POOL HALL PIX
You might expect a man of Condes generation to feel that way, but what of the younger soldiers?
YOUNG SOLDIER OVERLAY
I am 20 years old, I live in Madrid, Im from Sevilla, where my family lives. I spend my spare time in the gym where I train or in here playing pool.
LINK
Ive come to this pool hall off Madrids Gran Via, to meet a young, off duty solider. He doesnt want to give his name or show his face but hes agreed to talk to me about how soldiers of his generation feel about the governments treatment of their boss., Does he think the majority in the army support General Mena?
Not the majority EVERY soldier supports General Mena
-Everybody?
Because its totally irrational, that they should start trying to divide the Nation itself.
-Do you understand why some people felt threatened by what GM said?
I do not understand it, because what we in the Army do is to defend the nations unity nothing else. I dont know what can have crossed peoples mind to make them fear their own Army. We simply defend the nations unity, and that is our basis - that and the Spanish Constitution. There is nothing else.
SKULL BEING DUG UP
But not everyone feels that trust in the military. Volunteer archaeologists are exhuming victims of the previous military involvement in politics every day here at the mass grave in Ucles
31.22 My reaction was shock.. not expected. A little bit scared. .. Look at Spanish history, the military have done nothing for Spanish democracy, only react violently. I worry a little.
DIGGING STUFF
The bodies that are being exhumed are from the period of military repression that followed here the civil war. Across Spain the number of victims being found in unmarked graves is climbing towards 200,000.. theyve already made some gruesome finds
28.11 We found 2 graves over there one with 2 bodies one with 4 all had been shot in head, could see they were dumped in from a wheelbarrow, strange gestures.. even had a pig buried on top of them.. lack of respect
24.52 Need as much info as poss from each person keep everything..
26.24 cos can document how it happened, tortured, how treated..
This dig is organised by the non governmental association for restoring historical memory. an organisation committed to identifying victims of political violence and forcing Spain to confront the facts of what the military dictatorship did.
Maximo has a particular interest in what is being found, his grandfather and great grandfather were both shot by Nationalist forces. His family had been supporters of the Republican govt that was overthrown by Francos coup.
8.0 People had been given land by the Rep Govt which was then collectivised my grandfather was manager. There were 60 people in June 36, by Nov only 16. In my mothers village 180 killed out of 5000.
6.20 I visited the place he was shot they wre left at the sides of the road to terrorise people. Then there was a kind of meat lorry - he wsa buried along with 600 others
That was 70 years ago, bit the fear remains. There are real concerns about implicatins of the association disturbing the pact of silence..
11.50 We started digging 7th July 2004, on Sunday mother called saying be careful she was worried that we wre doing it.
12.35 Number of times told you are going to end up like yr gr father.
Now with the Socialist government beginning to break the 30 year pact of silence about the abuses, in part two Ill be asking what will be the impact on modern day Spain ?
DUR:
PART II
PRECIADOS CROWDS
The scale and pace of change in Spain since General Francos death in 1975 have been impressive. This is a thriving democracy at the political heart of Europe.
The current government is certainly keen to remove all traces of the days when the military where in charge.
There used to be a statue of General Franco on horseback on this plinth outside the Ministry for the Environment but its been taken down. And they are starting to address the pact of silence.
But some say its thanks to the pact of silence that Spain has grown so quickly from a country riven by civil war and dictatorship into a modern liberal democracy.
Jose Conde
I dont understand . Success of our democracy is all down to military doing such a great job after Franco died
CONDE AT HOME
Col Condes house is a shrine to his conservative Catholic life and traditional Spanish values
He says that the way people are now viewing the period of military power disregards the realities of the past and that people are wrong to disparage the military in the way they do.
Time passes Spain came out of a civil war - we all know how it happened, we know who won and how he stayed in power. I wont say anything about this, but here was a nation that followed him. There werent huge revolts, there were no political parties not because they were banned, but because they didnt existed. The Military did a lot of useful things in power.
Cathedral
And Col Cones not alone..
At General Francs vast mausoleum outside Madrid elderly Spaniards still come to hear mass and pay their respects to the dictator.
FRANCO FOUNDATION
And here at the Foundation set up in Francos honour, they are happy to show me the mementos of the military dictator lovingly displayed in the foyer.
Under the previous govt the foundation got a grant for its work preserving as they see it - a true record of the Generals life and times. But of course they make no mention of the mass graves.
Mire usted es producto de una Guerra civil
You see this is a consequence of the civil war .
But this was after the war
Theres an explanation for the repression after the war. The Civil War produced a series of acts lets call them acts of vandalism on both sides because thats what Civil War is like. But in the Republican Red zone, tremendous atrocities were committed .In Spain we reached a point where we do not want to dig up the past.
DIGGING AND MM LOOKING THOUGHTFUL
MM SYNC
23.10 I believe it must be a really evil person if they think it is right to have country full of people buried at roadside in pitiful graves like this.
35.23 We have a country full of mass graves how can we ignore it?
But ignored it has been, for 70 years.. I asked some of the student volunteers working at the graves, if they were taught anything about this period in school:
Sync..34.30 No. At school didnt learn anything a bit in college..
MORE OVER GIRL
35.42 They werent covering up but smoothing it over in supposed objectivity so in the end they did cover up real story.
The volunteers are careful to preserve all the evidence they can. More than just returning the bodies of loved ones to their relatives, they want to be able to tell the true story of how these people died.
MM
19.50 Unless we get these people back into soc, want to recover relvs dignity. People wont rest.. silence lead to restlessness, impression that waiting til everyone is dead so no-one left to give account
UCLES VILLAGE
In Ucles the old people do still remember what happened.
This beautiful little village lived through a time of fear and threats. Many here know of people who disappeared. One man told me he remembers seeing a woman burnt to death in this very square.
Academic
Like all those who work for the association, Maximo is a volunteer, in his real life he runs this language academy. He is trying to record as many testimonies as he can before the old people die with their memories.
In academy
Today Valeriano Fernandez is describing how his father was shot here in Ucles. And two of his uncles were shot in Madrid. He tells Maximo, how after his father was killed the entire family were terrorised.
They arrived at midnight looking for my uncle, threatening if my uncle was not there wed all be killed.. they arrived at midnight.. pulling blankets off looking for uncle.. everyone was scared.
Since then Valerianos mother has had nowhere to go to mourn her husband, there was no acknowledgemnet of what happened to him..
Now I feel a tingle down my spine, I feel tense and nervous when I think about them finding my fathers remains and saying this is him. But I am hoping that it will happen.
Grave
MM
20.36They say we are reopening the wounds, but the wounds are open they are open and infected.. bad for nations health. Need to clean wounds by talk.. expose them to fresh air to close them forever.
22.50 In Spain thre are people who say we must turn page.. but its not been written yet, only then can we turn the page.
LINK
But despite appearances the past may not be another country. With the prospect of other regions following Catalonias lead to autonomy, Colonel Conde, still doesnt rule out the possibility of the army intervening to stop what they perceive as a threat to Spain just as it did in the past:
Lets imagine that things get worse and a part of our beloved land declares independence and the soldiers are ordered to respect this situation then watch out! Because at this point something very serious could happen. I am not saying that is going to happen, but it could.
END