Association for the Recovery of Historical Memory
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File:Exhumación ARMH.jpg by ARMH]]
File:Spanish Civil War - Mass grave - Estépar, Burgos.jpg in the province of Burgos.]]
The Association for the Recovery of Historical Memory ({{langx|es|Asociación para la Recuperación de la Memoria Histórica}}, ARMH) is a Spanish organization that collects the oral and written testimonies about the White Terror of Francisco Franco and excavates and identifies their bodies that were often dumped in mass graves.Preston, Paul. The Spanish Civil War. Reaction, Revolution & revenge. Harper Perennial. London. 2006. p. 316.
Emilio Silva and Santiago Macias founded the ARMH in December 2000.Graham, Helen. The Spanish Civil War. A very Short introduction. Oxford University Press. 2005. p. 142. It is a group of about 50 Spanish archaeologists, anthropologists and forensic scientists. The group tries to identify the places of execution through records and interviewing the locals. Sometimes they also receive anonymous information about them.
Volunteer group members gather in a decided place to excavate the mass grave found. They try to exhume the bodies and identify the remains of the victims with DNA tests and other forensic methods.
As of September 2006, ARMH had conducted 40 excavations and found remains of 520 victims.Elkin, Mike. "[http://www.archaeology.org/0609/abstracts/franco.html Opening Franco's Graves]" (Archaeology, September/October 2006) As of October 2009 the group had identified the remains of 1,700 victims.Associated Press [https://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jwMqZMBFgUT-1WovIPfURB5871swD9B5288O1]{{dead link|date=June 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}
Media interest
The excavation of one of the mass graves in 2004 at Villamayor de los Montes near Burgos was the subject of a photo-documentary entitled Dark is the Room Where We Sleep at the International Center Of Photography in New York, New York.[http://www.icp.org/site/c.dnJGKJNsFqG/b.2876525/k.9FC1/Francesc_Torres.htm Francesc Torres – International Center Of Photography] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071111195417/http://www.icp.org/site/c.dnJGKJNsFqG/b.2876525/k.9FC1/Francesc_Torres.htm |date=November 11, 2007 }}
Political context
Opening mass graves has been politically controversial.
In 2007 the work of the Association was given state support by the Historical Memory Law, an initiative of the Zapatero administration. However, the Spanish government under Mariano Rajoy (2011–2018) was less cooperative and, for example, refused to open historical archives that would allow experts and historians to throw light on the fate of victims of the Francoist State.[http://www.elmundo.es/espana/2015/03/30/55184e5eca47417a068b4583.html?cid=SMBOSO25301&s_kw=facebook Los historiadores, contra Margallo por negarse a abrir los archivos]. El Mundo.
In 2020, El Pais reported that the Second government of Pedro Sánchez was working on the draft of a new law that would include a DNA database and an official list of Civil War victims.{{Cite news |last=Junquera |first=Natalia |date=30 July 2020 |title=Spain to release funds for mass grave excavations |work=English edition |url=https://english.elpais.com/historical_memory/2020-07-30/spain-to-release-funds-for-mass-grave-exhumations.html |access-date=5 August 2020}} This legislation came into effect in 2022 as the Democratic Memory Law.
See also
References
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External links
{{Commons category|Asociación para la Recuperación de la Memoria Histórica (ARMH)}}
- [http://www.memoriahistorica.org/ Official site] {{in lang|es}}
- [http://eaaf.typepad.com/ar_2005/11Spain_138-143.pdf Article about ARMH] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090729174929/http://eaaf.typepad.com/ar_2005/11Spain_138-143.pdf |date=2009-07-29 }}
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Category:History organisations based in Spain