Idi Ezkerra Foundation

Emilio Silva, president of the Association for Historic Memory Recovery, was in San Sebastian with Idi Ezkerra on November 20th, to close the conferences program the Paths of Memory, which was held throughout November. We enjoyed very much listening to a man who has been in the last decade the real shaker of the Historic Memory, and the person who made possible that the crimes commited during the Civil War and the dictatorship became a political issue in Spain. He is also respossible of taking to the Court the case of the mass graves from the Civil War. Judge Garbiñe Biurrun was there to introduce him. Among the public, a few members of the  Aranzadi Science Society, who work together with the ARMH doing the forensic work in the exhumation of graves.

In a hall full of people,Emilio Silva began his presentation by denouncing the "pact of silence imposed by Franco’s regime, which lasted during the transition. Thousands of families were forced to keep silent, and even invent stories about the family history, because the slogan was 'don’t show yourself', ie, be negligible. "

According to Silva, this past of silence has not changed oblivion at of the regime. He said that, even today, "it is possible to graduate in History without having learnt a single word about the Spanish Republic. Many textbooks go on tiptoe on the subject, or even omit it. " He believes that the Catholic Church has a major responsibility on this and he blames that "after 35 years they still have not apologized. Moreover, whenever debate on Franco´s crimes is activated, they announce new canonizations of alleged victims of the fascist side. The Church seeks to counterbalance the crimes alleged, instead of apologizing for what they did. "

Emilio Silva stated that "we must not forget nor forgive, but the contrary: the crimes have to be acknowledged and we must search for justice. But Spain is the country of impunity, so they just don’t care" Silva argued that "in Spain, Franco is still alive in the society: he is in the church, which wants to play the same role they had for so many years as a real power in the state, and is into the Popular Party, whose speakers even make fun about the victims of the Franco’s regime when they refer to the Memory issue. If anyone would say such things in any other country about the victims of the war, he would be prosecuted, but here, thanks to that impunity built up in the transition, they can insult to the victims and absolutely nothing happens to them" And he went further saying that "in these other countries, the so-called writers who are supposed to be revisionists of the Civil War and the Franco regime, would be considered denialist, not sellers of bestsellers".

Just two weeks before, the South African activist Mary Burton explained us how the Truth and Reconciliation Commission had been a key element so that the political transition in South Africa could be made in a peaceful manner. In Spain, however, our so often invoked transition, in the words of Silva, "was based in impunity. Those who implemented it, try to create myths about that proccess, instead of explaining why they left so many people buried in the gutters. The Amnesty Act legitimized impunity, and opened the way for the criminals of the regime to embrace democracy honorably, while keeping aside the victims and those who really fought for that freedom. Franco’s heritage was left very well tied up (Franco’s sentence), and nobody has unleashed it yet".

Emilio Silva believes that the process opened in October at the Audiencia Nacional, "has brought a new scenario almost 40 years later. It may be the oportunity to open the possibility of prosecuting crimes of Franco’s regime". On the inhibition of Garzon for further research, Silva considered that "it is not as bad as it seems at first glance. After the initial surprise, referral to local courts will lead probably to a disparity of sentences. This will obligue that high courts to take a position". Anyway, the president of the ARMH predicted that this process will end at the Human Rights Court in Strasbourg"

In any case, Silva has assured that "exhumations will go on, because the families can not wait," and criticized that "Zapatero visits mass graves or concentration camps in other countries, but he has never come to an exhumation here". Silva also expressed his outrage at the words of the Spanish premier who believes that it’s time to forget the past. In this regard, he replied that "we expect from the government less words and more action, because they haven’t done anything. Zapatero has left in the associations, in the families, the resposibility and work that the state should be doing".

Therefore, our guest concluded saying that "the best monument we can do to those who fought for the Republic and freedom, is to remember and defend the values they fought for”.