- 5/20/2025
En este vídeo exploramos el profundo impacto que la Guerra Civil Española tuvo en los niños de Guernica. La ciudad, conocida por su trágica historia durante el bombardeo de 1937, no solo sufrió la destrucción de sus edificios, sino que también dejó una huella imborrable en la infancia de muchos. Los niños de Guernica vivieron momentos de terror y pérdida, y su resiliencia se convirtió en un símbolo de esperanza.
A través de testimonios, imágenes históricas y análisis, descubriremos cómo estos pequeños enfrentaron la adversidad y cómo sus historias han sido contadas y recordadas a lo largo de las décadas. Hablaremos de los esfuerzos por preservar la memoria de Guernica y cómo la educación sobre este periodo es esencial para que las futuras generaciones entiendan las lecciones de la guerra. La paz, aunque anhelada, a menudo tiene un precio alto y los relatos de los niños son un poderoso recordatorio de la fragilidad de la vida en tiempos de conflicto.
Sumérgete con nosotros en este recorrido que no solo honra a los que sufrieron, sino que también busca inspirar a todos a trabajar por un mundo más pacífico. La guerra ha terminado, pero las historias de los niños de Guernica siguen vivas. No olvides dejar tu comentario y compartir este vídeo para que más personas conozcan esta importante parte de la historia.
#Guernica, #GuerraCivilEspañola, #HistoriasDeNiños
niños de Guernica, legado de la guerra, historia de España, Guerra Civil, testimonios de la guerra, memoria histórica, resiliencia infantil, educación sobre la guerra, paz y conflicto, historia contemporánea.
A través de testimonios, imágenes históricas y análisis, descubriremos cómo estos pequeños enfrentaron la adversidad y cómo sus historias han sido contadas y recordadas a lo largo de las décadas. Hablaremos de los esfuerzos por preservar la memoria de Guernica y cómo la educación sobre este periodo es esencial para que las futuras generaciones entiendan las lecciones de la guerra. La paz, aunque anhelada, a menudo tiene un precio alto y los relatos de los niños son un poderoso recordatorio de la fragilidad de la vida en tiempos de conflicto.
Sumérgete con nosotros en este recorrido que no solo honra a los que sufrieron, sino que también busca inspirar a todos a trabajar por un mundo más pacífico. La guerra ha terminado, pero las historias de los niños de Guernica siguen vivas. No olvides dejar tu comentario y compartir este vídeo para que más personas conozcan esta importante parte de la historia.
#Guernica, #GuerraCivilEspañola, #HistoriasDeNiños
niños de Guernica, legado de la guerra, historia de España, Guerra Civil, testimonios de la guerra, memoria histórica, resiliencia infantil, educación sobre la guerra, paz y conflicto, historia contemporánea.
Category
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TVTranscript
00:00Have you ever heard of the children of war?
00:30Lets find out.
01:00♪
01:05♪
01:10♪
01:15♪
01:20♪
01:25♪
01:30♪
01:35♪
01:40♪
01:45♪
01:50♪
01:55They come again, one after another,
01:58after another, after another,
02:01and again, and again, and again.
02:05A man rubs his eyes from the smoke.
02:07Blood trickles from a boy's mouth.
02:09Three men drag another from the rubble.
02:13We lived in Mount Archanda,
02:18near Begoña, the Basilica of Begoña.
02:21And from there you could see everything,
02:23the bombing, the smoke and everything.
02:26And then, from Guernica they came to Bilbao,
02:29they were going to bomb.
02:31I threw myself to the ground.
02:33They were also shooting at us because there was no defense.
02:36Suddenly, these planes,
02:39you could see them and all going...
02:42And my brother said,
02:44right, run, grab me, run,
02:47and he threw me into a dried-up ditch
02:50and we all jumped in there.
02:52♪
02:59The bombings...
03:01We lived in Irala,
03:03where the baker's flour was,
03:06the factory.
03:08We were going to sleep there at night,
03:11among the bags of flour.
03:13I remember eating,
03:17and starting to eat, and hearing the siren,
03:20and leaving the spoon, and running to the shelter.
03:24♪
03:43And the bombs kept dropping from the sky.
03:47So we escaped again, to England,
03:50and ended up in Eastleigh for the longest summer of our lives.
03:54On the 22nd of May, 1937,
03:59a boat called the Havana
04:02arrived from Bilbao,
04:04and on board,
04:06initially they were only supposed to be carrying 2,000 children,
04:10but ten days before they actually arrived,
04:14it swelled to a total of 3,862 children.
04:20Accompanied by 95 teachers,
04:24120 young women helpers,
04:27who were referred to as señoritas,
04:29is that a good pronunciation?
04:32And 15 priests.
04:34Finally, after the bombing of Guernica,
04:37the British government
04:40was so pressured by the public opinion here,
04:45that it had to give in, and admitted that children would arrive.
04:50But with the condition that the government
04:53would be in absolute charge of putting funds
04:57for the care of these children.
05:00The government had reluctantly agreed
05:04to these children coming here,
05:07because they thought it would compromise their appeasement.
05:11In less than a month,
05:14to organize Havana,
05:17to supply it,
05:20to prepare for everyone to leave,
05:22to gather us,
05:24a formidable organization,
05:27particularly when everything was in the middle of the war,
05:31which dominated all life, everywhere.
05:35There was a situation of complete poverty in everything.
05:39Food was running out,
05:42because there was only, I remember,
05:46chickpeas and rice,
05:49and I think some cod.
06:01Mismanin was a woman who did a lot for us,
06:04when she came here to speak to Euskadi,
06:07to take the children to England.
06:10And few of us have had the luck to meet her,
06:13and to live with her,
06:15because I was very lucky
06:18that I was in the house that she gave us.
06:22For me, these have been the happiest days of my life.
06:26Where we are here now,
06:29they made a square for Mismanin.
06:32Mismanin was quite strong,
06:35and she would come,
06:37as soon as she entered the house,
06:39she was there with the little ones,
06:41one would hold her, the other would kiss her.
06:43Very affectionate, very affectionate, very good.
06:52Here are the main ones,
06:55Mr. Elif and Mismanin.
07:00They came to Bilbao,
07:02she came to make contact with the Basque government,
07:07to take us,
07:09and he came at the last minute to recognize us.
07:12That man, before leaving,
07:15sculpted all the children,
07:17and then on the boat too, before getting off.
07:22When we left, they labeled us all,
07:25they put a hexagonal label on us,
07:27with the destination, England.
07:30And then a number, a control number.
07:33So my number was 1702.
08:01My father took us to the port, to Santurce,
08:06and he handed us over to the people
08:10who had to put us on the boat.
08:13And the poor man, I still remember,
08:17he handed us over,
08:19and in great haste,
08:22he turned around and left.
08:24The poor man felt it very much.
08:28But before that, I looked at my mother,
08:31and my mother turned her head back,
08:33when I looked at her, she turned her head,
08:35so that I wouldn't see her, because she was crying.
08:37So that I wouldn't see her cry, she turned her head.
08:40And then when I got to this little road that led up to the ships,
08:44she put me in the van,
08:46on top of half a dozen other children,
08:48and that's when I knew she wasn't going to come back for me.
08:53When I became a mother,
08:55I realized what our parents would suffer
08:59when they put us on the boat in Santurce,
09:02and they left us there without knowing if they were going to see us again.
09:06The Port of Santurce
09:23More or less, it was in this area
09:27where Havana came out,
09:30heading to England,
09:32and it was founded in the Port of Santurce.
09:36And of course, seeing this ferry now,
09:39compared to what it was,
09:41of course, it was an impression like that.
09:44Everyone was here,
09:46all the parents and relatives,
09:48saying goodbye to everyone.
09:51Some of them contained themselves, the parents,
09:54so as not to instill fear or something like that in the children.
10:03The Port of Santurce
10:16And that's how it all ended,
10:18everything related to the ferry.
10:20Then from there, they took us to England,
10:23and from there, it's another adventure.
10:33The parents took us,
10:36but at the entrance of the boat, no one got on.
10:39We got on by ourselves.
10:41Entering the boat and going straight to the kitchen
10:44to see what they gave you to eat,
10:46because they had told us that they gave you whatever you wanted.
10:49And I, a mouthful of chorizo, too,
10:51and I was the mouthful of chorizo,
10:53and they gave it to me,
10:55but I didn't eat it,
10:57because at the beginning of the trip,
10:59the sea was very bad,
11:01remember, it was very bad,
11:03and I, like everyone else, got seasick.
11:07And since there were no beds or anything,
11:10on the floor, to sleep as best you could.
11:13I was a little squirrel,
11:15I got on top,
11:17and I slept on a boat, all night.
11:19I was with two brothers,
11:21one of eleven and the other of twelve,
11:23I was nine,
11:25and I was on the boat,
11:27like everyone else,
11:29I was on the boat with my older brother,
11:31sitting, sometimes we got seasick,
11:33I fell asleep,
11:35and when I woke up, my brother wasn't there.
11:37Four thousand children on a boat.
11:43I thought I was lucky,
11:45because they gave us a room,
11:47and we left our luggage there,
11:49and we were there for a while,
11:51and we said, well, it was time to have dinner or something,
11:53and we got on from there,
11:55we left, and we didn't find it again along the way.
11:57We slept on the floor,
11:59we didn't have a coat,
12:01we were wearing the clothes we had been wearing,
12:03and we all went back,
12:05and it was terrible,
12:07because we were rolling on the floor,
12:09and in the end,
12:11everyone's vomit,
12:13and everyone's,
12:15it was a disaster.
12:27Until we got there,
12:29to Southampton,
12:31but before that,
12:33the adventure of Cervera,
12:35and of how
12:37two frigates
12:39of the British Navy
12:41carried us
12:43to Southampton.
12:57We would be sunk for sure,
12:59an aging cruise liner
13:01and four thousand miserable children.
13:27They put us in a bus,
13:29they took our attention,
13:31they looked at our heads,
13:33if we were clean or dirty,
13:35if we had a bad mouth,
13:37and they put some colored tapes on us.
13:39And there were a lot of people
13:41looking at how we got off the ship,
13:43a lot of English people,
13:45of course, we didn't understand each other,
13:47but then they told us, they spoke,
13:49and we understood each other,
13:51but then they told us that they said
13:53that if they are children like ours,
13:55I don't know what they thought,
13:57how were we going to be?
13:59And we saw there in the port
14:01women and men
14:03dressed in a very strange way,
14:05and we said,
14:07look how they dress here,
14:09the women with hats,
14:11and also, look, look,
14:13they have put flags.
14:15The day before,
14:17the coronation of King George VI
14:19had been celebrated,
14:21and of course,
14:23everything was decorated,
14:25flags,
14:27but it was also said
14:29that knowing that the Basque children
14:31were coming,
14:33they didn't pick up everything,
14:35they left it
14:37to make
14:39an act of sympathy.
14:47And the double bus came.
14:49We had never seen
14:51anything like it.
14:53We all said,
14:55we just want to go up,
14:57we can see better.
14:59We were very surprised,
15:01they took us by bus,
15:03and we were very surprised
15:05to see all those tent shops
15:07that we had only seen
15:09in the cinema of the cowboys,
15:11the Indians.
15:21Then this was the arrival.
15:23This was at the entrance
15:25of the camp.
15:27With a tent shop
15:29and a reception
15:31and some signs
15:33that said Stoneham Camp,
15:35Basque Children.
15:37As soon as you entered,
15:39there were some
15:41with some of these
15:43molded bread slices.
15:51When I was here,
15:53I wanted some mattresses
15:55and my mother
15:57didn't buy them for me.
15:59And there was a very big flood
16:01in the camp.
16:03And there they call,
16:05everyone in line
16:07and they give us a waterproof
16:09and some mattresses,
16:11those mattresses
16:13that I wanted so much,
16:15to go to England
16:17and give them to me.
16:19There was a straw
16:21and we were in the tent shop
16:23with the water
16:25that came from everywhere.
16:27And there was a sea storm
16:29with so many guillotines.
16:31There were 4,000 of us
16:33in the camp.
16:35But anyway,
16:37I also remember
16:39that they made movies
16:41in one of the big tent shops
16:43that there was
16:45and I had never seen
16:47a movie like that.
17:07And in the morning
17:09they woke us up with music
17:11and then they started talking
17:13that we would put the tent shops
17:15We need volunteers
17:17for the kitchen
17:19to peel potatoes.
17:21And they gave us a magazine
17:23and those who did very well
17:25were given a prize.
17:39We were cornered
17:41in this camp.
17:43They didn't let us leave the camp.
17:45I never left.
17:49But they took good care of us.
17:51The English took good care of us.
18:13We used dance and theatre
18:15to interpret the story
18:17and wider refugee issues
18:19for a wider audience.
18:21It was ordinary men
18:23and women and children
18:25who gave up their time,
18:27their money and their love
18:29to help keep us alive.
18:31Because it's such a children's story
18:33I wanted to make sure
18:35that the children of the area,
18:37the local children,
18:39also got to know
18:41what was going on.
18:45It's an abstract work
18:47which looks at the transition
18:49for the children
18:51who've come over from the Basque land
18:53to England.
18:55It's looking at the kind of emotional journey
18:57that they've been through.
19:07There have been people
19:09who have seen the images
19:11of the show.
19:13It's a big shock.
19:15One thing is to be reinterpreting a show
19:17and another thing is to be reinterpreting
19:19a reality,
19:21the true story of people.
19:39I was five years old myself
19:41and Copley Carter was about 11.
19:43One thing I always remember
19:45is they used to come down into the town
19:47and in the evenings they would go back
19:49and they would put their fist up
19:51and they would be singing the International.
19:53I've never forgotten that.
19:55Oh, it's your son!
19:57It's incredible, isn't it?
19:59It's amazing.
20:01Do you live in England?
20:03Yeah, 17 years here.
20:05I go there frequently.
20:07It's incredible, isn't it?
20:11It's a sentimental journey for me.
20:21Hello?
20:23Herminio, open the door, please.
20:25One moment.
20:27Hello!
20:29It's stopped raining.
20:31What a day!
20:33Hello, Maria.
20:35What a day!
20:41Take off your jackets and coats.
20:43Here I have some pictures
20:45of when we arrived.
20:47I think it was two or three days later
20:49when it started to get hot
20:51and I was left in a shirt.
20:53Look at that!
20:55It's something I would never have done in Spain.
20:57It's a very nice shirt,
20:59embroidered with varnish
21:01that I hadn't done in school.
21:03Look,
21:05this was our first colony
21:07after the camp.
21:09And look at the little ones
21:11who were there.
21:13I was just
21:15seven years old.
21:17I turned 16 in May
21:19and we arrived on the 23rd.
21:23I was 14.
21:25How old were you, Maria?
21:27I turned 16 in March.
21:29Did you cheat then?
21:31My parents cheated.
21:33They wanted me to come
21:35because my siblings
21:37were younger than me.
21:39Someone to take care of them.
21:41Of course.
21:43I think there was a girl
21:45who was asked
21:47how old she was
21:49and she said
21:51that in Spain
21:53she was four and a half
21:55but here I'm six.
21:57I'm six.
21:59They also cheated
22:01because you could come
22:03from five to fifteen.
22:05That was the official rule.
22:23In August,
22:25a young lady came to me
22:27and she said
22:29that we were preparing
22:31an expedition
22:33to a colony
22:35where we wanted
22:37to be siblings.
22:39It was going to be like a family.
22:41It was going to be small.
22:43Would you like to come with us?
22:45It was going to be in Sarri.
22:47I didn't know what Sarri was
22:49but I said yes.
22:57And more of us were being sent
22:59all over the country.
23:01Some to stay with families.
23:03Some into children's homes.
23:05Some into hostels
23:07and colonies.
23:27When we left the camp
23:29to Montrose, Scotland,
23:31we took the train.
23:33We arrived in the morning
23:35and spent the night
23:37on the train.
23:39We arrived in the morning
23:41and the station
23:43was totally full.
23:45I think half the town
23:47had gone to welcome us.
23:49Then a lady,
23:51as we went down the stairs,
23:53put on a box of chocolates
23:55and said,
23:57children,
23:59the chocolates
24:01don't have a language.
24:03We went to Maidenhead
24:05which was a huge house.
24:07It had been a hotel.
24:09It had 365 windows.
24:11A window for every day
24:13of the year.
24:15And this is the colony
24:17of Carshalton.
24:19It was a fantastic colony.
24:21There was a lot of talent here.
24:23Ballet, music,
24:25and art.
24:27And here is Cora Portillo.
24:35I was studying Spanish
24:37and of course
24:39I couldn't go to Spain
24:41on vacation.
24:43And then
24:45my teacher said,
24:47there is a colony of Basque children
24:49very close.
24:51One Saturday
24:53I took the bus
24:55and there I met
24:57the one who took care
24:59of the children,
25:01her name was Pili Merodio.
25:03And I still maintain relations
25:05with her because we became
25:07very good friends.
25:09I was an assistant
25:11and then there were teachers.
25:13I was an assistant to the teachers.
25:15It was a colony,
25:17a very small village.
25:19And the house was beautiful.
25:21And the English
25:23who visited us encouraged us.
25:25They gave us a lot of life.
25:27They were all charming,
25:29starting with Cora.
25:35I was delighted
25:37with life there.
25:39A love,
25:41such an open life.
25:43And although, of course,
25:45they had many concerns.
25:47One of the older girls
25:49knew that
25:51she had lost her father.
25:53But in general
25:55they were like
25:57brothers and sisters.
26:07One day I arrived at the colony
26:09and they told me
26:11there is a man
26:13who comes from another
26:15colony who has disbanded
26:17and will be with us.
26:19And his health
26:21is not very good.
26:23So I entered
26:25a room and there was
26:27Luis Portillo
26:29who had been in the war.
26:31It seems very
26:33silly, but
26:35I had, as you say,
26:37the coup de foudre,
26:39I fell in love with the act.
26:41If it weren't for the Basque children,
26:43I wouldn't exist.
26:45Because my parents
26:47found each other
26:49because of the Basque children.
26:51What I do remember
26:53is that in my house
26:55there was constant talk
26:57about the Spanish Civil War.
26:59Because for my father
27:01it was like a permanent wound.
27:03As for our children,
27:05they were raised
27:07in such a different environment.
27:09And for them,
27:11our experience
27:13now that they are older,
27:15your son, for example,
27:17is very interested.
27:19He has always been interested.
27:21In my case, who is more interested
27:23than my children
27:25now is my grandson,
27:27who is 17 years old.
27:29My mother was from Madrid
27:31and she came to England
27:33two months after
27:35the Basque children
27:37who came on the Havana ship.
27:39She came alone to England
27:41and was immediately sent
27:43to a colony
27:45of Basque children
27:47in Langham, in Colchester,
27:49where she taught them English.
27:51My father was a language teacher,
27:53he was English,
27:55and he met my mother
27:57and then they got married.
27:59I had always had in mind
28:01that it would be very nice
28:03to have the memories of many children
28:05and I was surprised
28:07because I thought I would only have
28:0925 or 30,
28:11but I finally had 64 testimonies.
28:13I am the son
28:15of the Civil War.
28:17My mother was from San Sebastián,
28:19her name was Cayetana Lozano Díaz,
28:21and she arrived here in England,
28:23in Havana,
28:25with the 4,000 Basque children.
28:27She was very republican
28:29and she met
28:31an Englishman.
28:33My father asked my mother
28:35to get married.
28:37She said,
28:39yes, but I don't want to live here,
28:41I want to live in Spain.
28:43My father said,
28:45then I will go to Spain
28:47to fight against Franco.
28:49He lost the war,
28:51but he won
28:53the hand
28:55of my mother.
28:57We did not go home for many years,
28:59but power and strength alone
29:01could not win out forever.
29:03And as we drove out through the gates
29:05and left the camp,
29:07those we left behind
29:09waved and cheered us on.
29:11I was in three colonies in total.
29:13The first was for girls,
29:1550, but we were only there
29:17for three months, I think.
29:19And from there we went to another
29:21colony that was for boys and girls
29:23and we were there
29:25until it was closed.
29:27And when that colony was closed,
29:29we were left alone.
29:37Once again on a train,
29:39and this time from the north of England
29:41we ended up in Margate,
29:43in the south.
29:45And of course, as a child,
29:47one does not understand why.
29:49Then I realized, of course,
29:51that as the colonies were closed,
29:53there were fewer left,
29:55and in short,
29:57there was a problem
29:59to raise funds
30:01for our maintenance.
30:03And that's when the ladies
30:05said, well, here
30:07we have to do something to get money.
30:09And the boys were put
30:11in factories,
30:13especially one of the bricks
30:15that was quite close,
30:17because almost everyone was going
30:19to work at the brick factory.
30:21And we formed a dance squad,
30:23and that's when we started
30:25to go to all the nearby towns
30:27to do the dances
30:29and earn money.
30:43We dressed like this,
30:45like Irish women,
30:47and everything was Spanish,
30:49some dance, something.
30:51But in the end they taught us
30:53how to sing in English
30:55three songs,
30:57which I only remember now.
30:59And the English liked that very much.
31:01Oh, how they applauded!
31:13They had no funds,
31:15and they put ads in the newspaper
31:17and said that to help us maintain,
31:19they could sponsor
31:21one of us
31:23for 10 shillings a week.
31:25And that's when I met
31:27Mr. Livingstone.
31:29He saw me and wanted to adopt me.
31:31Did I have the right to adopt?
31:33Well, no.
31:35And then Mr. Livingstone
31:37took us to his house
31:39and told us
31:41that he was
31:43Mr. Livingstone's grandson,
31:45I suppose.
31:47They sent a letter to the Cadbury
31:49that they also wanted
31:51to pay 10 shillings and take one.
31:53And they chose my sister,
31:55who was young.
31:57And they arranged with the committee
31:59to take us to eat at their house.
32:01And we started talking,
32:03and they found out that I had a brother too.
32:05And since then,
32:07whenever they invited us,
32:09they invited the three of us.
32:11This was a son of the Cadbury family,
32:13of the famous chocolate makers.
32:19One day they told me,
32:21Erminio, you're leaving today.
32:23And they introduced me to a man
32:25who didn't speak Spanish,
32:27and I didn't speak English.
32:29And so I took
32:31the few things I had.
32:33I had a book,
32:35The Journeys of Gulliver.
32:37He had gone to the colony
32:39waiting to take a girl,
32:41because he had a three-year-old daughter,
32:43but there were no more girls.
32:45We were all little kids.
32:47And so I said,
32:49I'll take this one,
32:51without even having seen me.
32:53That was...
32:55I've always considered it
32:57as a very, very human act.
33:01The war was over,
33:03and they started saying
33:05that we had to go back to Spain.
33:07And I, I'm not used to telling lies,
33:09but I had to say it.
33:11That no,
33:13that I hadn't heard from my mother,
33:15that when I left,
33:17that my brother was at the front,
33:19that he was a widow,
33:21and that I didn't know anything about her.
33:23My mother had found out
33:25that we had the Cadburys,
33:27that we called them uncles,
33:29and that they had adopted us.
33:31And my mother said in the letters
33:33to Martina, who was her,
33:35don't come, don't visit her
33:37for anything in the world.
33:39The Basque Children's Committee
33:41demanded the signatures
33:43of the parents
33:45before repatriating the children,
33:47but they didn't trust
33:49that those signatures
33:51were authentic.
33:53My mother had been visited
33:55by an officer and a priest,
33:57and they had threatened her
33:59that if she didn't sign
34:01the document of our repatriation,
34:03that they would imprison her
34:05and take away the rest of the children.
34:07My father, of course,
34:09was in prison.
34:11My mother told the Basque Children's Committee
34:13in London
34:15that we shouldn't return.
34:17And so, at the last minute,
34:19we stayed in England.
34:21Some who returned to Spain
34:23had a very bad time.
34:25Their parents were absent
34:27or had very little food.
34:29They had a very, very bad time,
34:31while those who stayed in England
34:33were able to make a living.
34:35They were able to study,
34:37many of them,
34:39but sometimes
34:41some children have said
34:43that their lives were better
34:45in England
34:47than in Spain.
34:51My mother and no one
34:53complained to me
34:55because this was very bad.
34:57Here there was a lot of hunger
34:59and there was nothing to eat.
35:01I said to my mother,
35:03how am I going to complain
35:05about the way this is?
35:07I was in the washing machine
35:09and they told my mother,
35:11you have your daughter in Bilbao.
35:13She said, no, I haven't complained to her.
35:15She said, you have her in the Ave María school,
35:17which is in the newspaper.
35:21There they left us,
35:23the nuns, alone,
35:25and we were all lying against the wall.
35:29And my mother came
35:31and when I saw my mother,
35:33I hugged her running
35:35and we both cried.
35:37We both cried.
35:43My father
35:45went to the Azzurri station
35:47when we arrived
35:49and I was at the window
35:51because I was waiting
35:53for someone to come out.
35:55I saw my father
35:57and he recognized me right away
35:59and he called me,
36:01come, come,
36:03my father.
36:05And I said,
36:07how small is my father,
36:09he was very tall.
36:11So in two years
36:13I had grown up
36:15and I didn't seem that tall anymore.
36:17My mother was waiting for us
36:19at home because she said
36:21she didn't have the courage
36:23to go
36:25to look for us.
36:29Well, I don't know,
36:31we found her
36:37we found her very different,
36:39very...
36:41My mother was not
36:43the one I met
36:45when she left the war.
36:47We were many
36:49and of course,
36:51in order to feed everyone,
36:53my mother had to buy
36:55the strapper.
36:57And to buy the strapper,
36:59she had to buy everything.
37:01I came with the hopes
37:03of studying a little
37:05and I had to
37:07get a seam.
37:09When I came from there,
37:11we didn't have
37:13a good childhood
37:15or a youth.
37:17They called me
37:19that I had to come
37:21and I told my brother
37:23no, no, no,
37:25I didn't want to come,
37:27no, no.
37:29And my brother convinced me
37:31that I only came here
37:33to see my parents
37:35and that I could come back
37:37with them.
37:39And so they convinced me
37:41and I came.
37:43It was very sad
37:45to come back here.
37:47We started when they
37:49welcomed us in Irun
37:51insulting that we were
37:53children of reds,
37:55with a lot of suffering
37:57and fear.
38:01And then I was lucky
38:03to have two children,
38:05they were very good,
38:07they supported me a lot
38:09and that's how I am,
38:11that's my life.
38:13Then I met Miguel
38:15at Bene's house,
38:17selecting the photographs
38:19for the album.
38:21And so we continued.
38:23After going to England
38:25as children,
38:27being in England,
38:29not knowing each other,
38:31going back to life,
38:33I don't know,
38:35I think we have to thank
38:37Miss Manning
38:39for letting us meet
38:41after so many years.
38:53Here we were at war,
38:55five years of bombing,
38:57the same as in Guernica,
38:59from 1939 to 1945.
39:01After the Second World War,
39:03we all hoped that
39:05the Allied troops
39:07would get into Spain
39:09and end Franco's regime,
39:11but no,
39:13unfortunately,
39:15they didn't.
39:17They didn't.
39:19They didn't.
39:21Unfortunately,
39:23it wasn't like that.
39:25We were all disappointed
39:27because we saw
39:29that there was no way
39:31to return.
39:33I wanted to learn
39:35to be a secretary,
39:37to go back to Spain
39:39and help my mother
39:41work and help her
39:43with the money,
39:45because I was a widow
39:47and I was naive,
39:49very innocent.
39:51I thought I was going to learn this
39:53and that Franco was going to finish
39:55very soon and go back to Spain
39:57and help my mother.
40:01Look,
40:03I've been working here
40:05from 1944 to 1948.
40:09I came to be a secretary
40:11to the secretary of the
40:13Juan Luis Vives Foundation,
40:15and to the Spanish Institute.
40:17I think I was already
40:19working here,
40:21I was at the Institute,
40:23and it was all an illusion
40:25that the war was over
40:27and that the Allies were winning.
40:29And there was even one
40:31who was packing his luggage
40:33to go to Spain,
40:35because we were sure
40:37that the Labour government
40:39that had left
40:41was going to kick out Franco
40:43and that we were going to return.
40:45And this was something
40:47that had never happened to us.
40:49For me it was very difficult
40:51to adapt.
40:53I worked in an endless
40:55number of jobs,
40:57always moving,
40:59living in different mansions,
41:01then renting a room,
41:03then sharing rooms
41:05with other boys.
41:07It was a disaster for me.
41:09I started then
41:11to study in night classes.
41:13I did my university degree
41:15and then I continued
41:17for a master's degree.
41:19My life has been
41:21a series of studies.
41:23And I spent those years
41:25so sad and lonely
41:27in London,
41:29every weekend I went
41:31to your house.
41:33And you did babysitting
41:35so that Luis could go out
41:37at night and take care
41:39of my children.
41:41Because we already lived
41:43on the boat, in the colonies,
41:45as a family.
41:47And unless someone
41:49needed help,
41:51you didn't have to do it
41:53because there was no family
41:55to help him.
42:07Who had been
42:09the last Prime Minister
42:11of the Republic,
42:13Juan Negrin,
42:15took out a lease
42:17for a huge house
42:19in London
42:21called the Spanish Home.
42:23And it was a social
42:25and cultural center.
42:27And there we met
42:29the young people,
42:31not only the Basque children,
42:33but also the exiled
42:35Republicans.
42:37For example, among us,
42:39there were many
42:41who got married.
43:07The view of my town,
43:09the Arboleda, was not like this.
43:11But there was also a house
43:13in front, which was lower.
43:15And then,
43:17if you looked higher,
43:19you could see the mountain.
43:21Mountains all around.
43:33When I returned to Spain
43:35for the first time after 23 years,
43:37I realized how different
43:39I was from my brothers
43:41who had stayed there.
43:43This experience
43:45of our life here,
43:47for better or for worse,
43:49forged me,
43:51influenced me a lot.
43:55My father found
43:57this hillside
43:59and made a garden there.
44:01And then my brothers
44:03built this house
44:05where they moved
44:07once my father
44:09was released from prison.
44:11And the garden
44:13was for them
44:15to survive those years
44:17of hunger.
44:21One of the things
44:23that stands out
44:25is our ability
44:27to survive.
44:29I've never regretted
44:31coming here,
44:33although I say
44:35that if I had to send
44:37my children,
44:39I wouldn't.
44:55What am I?
44:57Well, of course,
44:59I'm not Spanish.
45:01I'm from a generation
45:03of Spain that
45:05did exist,
45:07but didn't exist.
45:09Sometimes I feel
45:11very English,
45:13and other times I don't.
45:15Especially if I'm going to Spain,
45:17I feel the Spanish
45:19coming out.
45:21My sisters soon make me forget
45:23that I've ever been English.
45:39And no matter how English you feel,
45:41you can't forget your homeland.
45:43It's impossible.
45:45It's impossible.
45:47In your dreams,
45:49in bed,
45:51memories come to you
45:53all the time.
45:59All my desire would have been
46:01to return to England
46:03and become English.
46:05For me it was more important
46:07to become English
46:09than to become Spanish.
46:11One day I told my children,
46:13the day I die,
46:15you have to take me to England.
46:29Many times I've thought
46:31what would have happened
46:33if I had stayed in Spain.
46:35Surely I would have
46:37come out like my brothers.
46:39I wouldn't have attended
46:41poetry or sculpture courses.
46:43I would have been,
46:45in my opinion,
46:47a very different person
46:49with a much more
46:51restricted soul.
46:53The first years
46:55of being here,
46:57I once thought
46:59that if I had stayed
47:01in England,
47:03maybe I could have studied
47:05or become something else.
47:07But nowadays,
47:09I don't think so.
47:11Especially after
47:13World War II,
47:15I think I would have been
47:17just as bad
47:19as I am today.
47:27Yes?
47:29Hello.
47:31Very good.
47:33This afternoon we have
47:35a meeting at the local
47:37about our story
47:39of the evacuations.
47:41OK, see you this afternoon.
47:43See you later.
47:47Good afternoon.
47:49Good afternoon, everyone.
47:51How are you?
47:53Good.
47:55Have you brought photos?
47:57I have brought a few.
48:31This story, in reality,
48:33is only a very small part
48:35of what happened in Spain
48:37during the Civil War
48:39and after the Civil War.
48:45What we can learn from it
48:47is that human beings
48:49have an incredible ability
48:51for compassion.
48:53It also teaches us, of course,
48:55that they have a horrible ability
48:57for destruction.
49:01The moral, I think,
49:03of why we're trying to do this
49:05is so that we don't forget
49:07because I feel it's very important
49:09to keep public profile
49:11of this kind of story.
49:31I try to send a message
49:33that I remember this
49:35so that it won't happen again.
50:01music
50:03music
50:05music
50:07music
50:09music
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