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The Archaeology of Internment in Francoist Spain (1936–1952)

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Archaeologies of Internment

Part of the book series: One World Archaeology ((WORLDARCH))

Abstract

Between 1936 and 1952 Spain was transformed into an immense prison. Hundreds of internment camps were established by General Franco all over the country: some of them were purpose built; others reused older buildings and spaces. No less than half a million people passed through the camps and many thousands died in them due to ill-treatment, hunger, disease, and executions. The Franco regime produced a complex typology of camps, articulated with other spaces of punishment, which was fundamental in disciplining its subjects and reconstructing the nation along totalitarian lines. In recent years, historical research on the camps has grown exponentially, but the materiality of the sites themselves has rarely been taken into consideration. Here, the Spanish camps will be studied archaeologically as a technology of repression. Toward understanding the Spanish camps in their wider context, the similarities and dissimilarities with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy will be pointed out. Finally, I will scrutinize the contentious place of the camps in the collective memory of Spaniards today.

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Acknowledgments

Many of the ideas of this chapter have arisen from discussions with members of the Bustarviejo Project: Alicia Quintero Maqua, Carlos Marín, Álvaro Falquina, Jorge Rolland, and Pedro Fermín Maguire. I am grateful to Kiko Esperilla for kindly providing a photograph of the concentration camp of Castuera. Thanks are also due to the editors of the volume for the invitation to participate in this book and for organizing a thought-provoking session at the Sixth World Archaeological Congress.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Heritage Laboratory, Spanish National Research Council, Santiago de Compostela, Spain

    Alfredo González-Ruibal

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  1. Alfredo González-Ruibal
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Correspondence to Alfredo González-Ruibal .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. , Stanford Archaeology Center, Stanford University, Palo Alto, 94305, California, USA

    Adrian Myers

  2. , Institute of Archaeology, University College, London, London, WC1E 6BT, United Kingdom

    Gabriel Moshenska

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González-Ruibal, A. (2011). The Archaeology of Internment in Francoist Spain (1936–1952). In: Myers, A., Moshenska, G. (eds) Archaeologies of Internment. One World Archaeology. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-9666-4_4

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