Abstract
The chapter offers a background of the Historical Memory Records Center, a series of organizations that were created by Franco’s dictatorship to provide information to the agencies of repression. The author focuses on the tasks entrusted to the Center, the infrastructures, exhibition areas and cultural heritage—records holdings and collections; as well as the current exhibitions—Records from a war: Spain 1936–1939; Freemasonry exhibition; Recreation of a Masonic Lodge; and cultural activities. The article concludes with an exploration of the permanent exhibition project: Memory and recent history of Spain (1931–1981).
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Notes
- 1.
Royal Decree 697/2007, dated 1 June 2007. This Decree developed the second additional provision of Law 21/2005, of 17 November 2005, on restitution to the Generalitat of Catalonia of the records seized during the Civil War held in the General Archive of the Spanish Civil War .
- 2.
Law 52/2007, of 26 December 2007, recognizes and extends rights and measures in favor of those who suffered persecution and violence during the Civil War and the dictatorship.
- 3.
Robert Capa (1913–1954) is considered the first correspondent and photographer to specialize in war . These images were given by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1992.
- 4.
Kati Horna (1912–2000) was Hungarian and moved to Spain in 1937, where she worked as a graphic editor of various anarchist journals, including Umbral. In total, there are about 270 photographic negatives taken between 1937 and 1938.
- 5.
There are 3,861 print copies, the negatives of which are held in the General Archive of the Mexican Nation (Archivo General de la Nación de México). They include pictures taken in Spain during the Civil War , but others focus on meetings of the Government and the Courts in Mexican exile, rallies and acts by political and trade union organizations and major Republican figures.
- 6.
The photographs reflect the atmosphere of the cities in the Francoist rearguard , major monuments of the cities Franco visited and combat scenes.
- 7.
Considered by many as the initiator of photojournalism in Spain , Agustí Centelles’ historic images consist of more than 12,000 negatives that were purchased by the Archive in 2010. The images are an extraordinary source of graphic documentation for any researcher of the Spanish Civil War and its aftermath.
- 8.
There are about 6,000 photographs reflecting a true portrait of a good part of the Spanish society of the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s.
- 9.
In addition to the panels, the exhibition displays a selection of objects related to the Civil War from the Republican and Nationalist zones: collections of cards, a bracelet of the International Committee of the Red Cross, belts with the Republican flag, model soldiers of the Fifth Regiment, a plate with the faces of main characters of the military uprising, a bookmark, cut-outs of children parading in fascist uniform, etc.
- 10.
Obediences represent a voluntary federation of lodges that accept the same authority.
- 11.
Many historians regard the adoption of the Spanish Constitution on 6 December 1978 as marking the end of this period, while others believe that the transition process ended with the 1982 electoral victory of the Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE).
- 12.
Three cross-thematic lines are proposed by Dr. Cuesta:
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Women : from the conquest of the vote to the reconquest of liberties
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Wandering Spain : exiles and emigrants
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Schools and Education : secularism , National Catholicism and technocracy.
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- 13.
Many historians believe that the adoption of the Spanish Constitution on 6 December 1978 marks the end of this period, while others think that the transition process ends with the 1982 electoral victory of the Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE).
- 14.
The Center keeps over two thousand stickers, which were one of the main means of propaganda during the transition period.
- 15.
Included with this file is the gray wig used by Santiago Carrillo to enter Spain from France clandestinely; nevertheless, he was arrested in Madrid on 22 December 1976.
- 16.
Further readings: María Teresa Díez de los Ríos San Juan, “Estado actual de la sección Guerra Civil del Archivo Histórico Nacional,” Studia Historica: Historia Contemporánea, 3 (1985), 129–35; Antonio González Quintana, “Fuentes para el estudio de la represión franquista en el Archivo Histórico Nacional, Sección Guerra Civil,” Espacio, tiempo y forma 7 (1994), 479–508; Miguel Ángel Jaramillo Guerreira, “El archivo de la Guerra Civil de Salamanca,” Anuario de Castilla y León (Valladolid: Ámbito, 1989), 423–27; María José Turrión García, “El papel de los archivos en la memoria : el Centro Documental de la Memoria Histórica,” Patrimonio cultural de España (Madrid : Ministerio de Cultura, Subdirección General de Publicaciones, Información y Documentación, 2009), 157–71.
Bibliography
Díez de los Ríos San Juan, María Teresa. “Estado actual de la sección Guerra Civil del Archivo Histórico Nacional.” Studia Historica: Historia Contemporánea 3 (1985): 129–35.
González Quintana, Antonio. “Fuentes para el estudio de la represión franquista en el Archivo Histórico Nacional, Sección Guerra Civil.” Espacio, tiempo y forma 7 (1994): 479–508.
Jaramillo Guerreira, Miguel Ángel. “El archivo de la Guerra Civil de Salamanca.” Anuario de Castilla y León, 423–27. Valladolid: Ámbito, 1989.
Turrión García, María José. “El papel de los archivos en la memoria: el Centro Documental de la Memoria Histórica.” Patrimonio cultural de España, 157–71. Madrid: Ministerio de Cultura, Subdirección General de Publicaciones, Información y Documentación, 2009.
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Melgar Camarzana, M. (2018). The Historical Memory Records Center: A Museum for Memory and the Recent History of Spain. In: Ribeiro de Menezes, A., Cazorla-Sánchez, A., Shubert, A. (eds) Public Humanities and the Spanish Civil War. Palgrave Studies in Cultural Heritage and Conflict. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-97274-9_4
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