«PARQUE DE LA MEMORIA»
El Parque de la Memoria started as a citizens’ iniciative through historical memory associations, with untold collaboration from relatives of the victims and anonymous citizens. The institutions have yielded to the gathering force of the demand for truth, justice and reparation which have been delayed for so many years and they have finally given their support to the initiative thanks to the impulse from the citizens’ initiative. Nevertheless the economic help given by the institutions does not cover all the needs of this huge project.
WEB PARQUEDELAMEMORIA.ORG
It is a project promoted and supported by the Asociacion Pueblo de las Viudas de Sartaguda/Alargunen Herriko Elkartea.
You will find here the History of the Parque, the digital version and the extended version of the wall with the names of all the firing squad victims of Navarra and the anifascist combatants who died in the conflict, as well as the names of all those born outside Navarra who met their deaths here as a result of the coup d’etat (of July 18, 1936).
From the section Tus aportaciones (your contributions) you can upload new data about those missing or shot by firing squad.
From the section Libro de visitas (visitors’ book) you can share your impressions of the Parque de la Memoria after your virtual or actual visit.
From the section ayuda economica (economic help) you can help cover the costs of construction of the Parque – part of which remains to be paid – and its maintenance, which is still paid for in 2011 by Sartaguda town hall, though we keep fighting for an agreement from the Government of Navarra.
After years of silence, of accusing looks, of injustice, today the democratic memory of Navarra is relatively free simply because it has been allowed greater freedom.
We are the village of the widows because our village was shaken by a wave of murder, the very memory of which is spine-chilling. Almost 100 inhabitants of this village – 8 %, truly a massacre – were eliminated for thinking differently, without justification. The perpetrators aimed to erase all trace of their existence, so that they should be forgotten even by us, but today we prove that we have never forgotten them and from today on we wish our village to be thought of as the village of memory and hope.»
Words of Julio Martinez, President of the Association village of the Widows. To see the whole speech:
When the younger girls and boys listen to the barbarities and oppression that their ancestors had to endure, they are astonished because they are only used to seeing that sort of thing on TV, but to think that this happened, not just in Spain, or in Navarra, but close to home, in their own village, in their own family, gives you an idea of the need for the Parque de la Memoria.»
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Memorial Park site: http://www.parquedelamemoria.org/
The fallen of Navarra (the majority killed in the retreat): http://parquedelamemoria.org/todos-los-nombres-navarra/
Map of graves in Navarra http://fosas.navarra.es/
Slides of tributes to those killed in Sartaguda: http://parquedelamemoria.org/presentacion-fusilados-de-sartaguda/
Video about the sculptor Jose Ramon Anda: http://www.eitb.com/es/videos/detalle/882765/video-eitb-kultura-jose-ramon-anda/
Video about the sculptor Nestor Basterretxea (a contemporary of Oteiza) http://www.eitb.com/es/videos/detalle/1290288/video-60-anos-trayectoria-nestor-basterretxea–eitb-kultura/
Wikipedia on the sculptor Joxe Ulibarrena: http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joxe_Ulibarrena
Photos from the inauguration of the Park: https://picasaweb.google.com/101044850678156642425/Inauguracion
Photos of visits: https://picasaweb.google.com/101044850678156642425/Visitas_al_Parque_de_la_Memoria
Photos of tributes to the widows and orphans of Sartaguda: https://picasaweb.google.com/101044850678156642425/SartagudaPuebloDeLasViudas#