"The Nazis put us in the most miserable condition that a human being can suffer (...) I always hoped to see the victory of the Allies over such barbarism."
Francisco Largo Caballero.
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The former President of the Spanish Government of the Second Republic, Francisco Largo Caballero, recalled his imprisonment for a year and a half in the Sachsenhausen concentration camp in Paris, a few months before his death in 1946. His anti-fascist and democratic commitment led him and almost 10,000 Spaniards to be deported to one of the many concentration camps of the Third Reich.
The evil that fascism inflicted on the peoples of Europe was so extreme that after the end of the World War it was thought impossible for it to re-emerge. In the 21st century, however, we are no longer so sure. Ultra-nationalism, xenophobia and radicalism are spreading across the old continent. In Spain, whose democracy fell into oblivion after the civil war and Franco's dictatorship, neo-fascism finds particularly fertile ground.
On October 15, 2022, on the occasion of the anniversary of the birth of Francisco Largo Caballero, we have paid tribute to the former President and Minister of the Spanish Republic, trade unionist and socialist. His anti-fascist and democratic commitment earned him, like almost 10,000 other Spaniards, deportation to one of the numerous concentration camps of the Third Reich. That same day, in the afternoon, the first Conference on Democratic Memories for the 21st Century was held.
For the tribute and the conference we had the support of the Francisco Largo Caballero Foundation (Alcalá de Henares), the Polytechnic University of Chemnitz, the Sachsenhausen Memorial and Museum and the Instituto de Ciencias Sociais (Lisbon).
The tribute consisted of a speech by Sebastián Pacheco Cortés, president of the Foundation to Francisco Largo Caballero and the laying of two wreaths.
The conference opened with lectures by Manuela Aroca (historian, Madrid) on the life of Francisco Largo Caballero and Dr. Astrid Ley (historian, Sachsenhausen) on the Spaniards in the Sachsenhausen concentration camp.
Next, Antonio Muñoz Sánchez (historian, Lisbon) spoke on Spanish forced laborers and Mar Trallero (historian, Barcelona) on the fate of Spanish women in the concentration camps.
Finally, Txema Urkijo (lawyer, Bilbao) and Teresa Pinheiro (anthropologist, Chemnitz) spoke about the challenge of memory policies and their importance for the existence of democracy.
The conference was moderated by Miguel Montero and Andrea Sánchez-Guijaldo on behalf of Werkstatt für Sozialforschung.
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