*In February 1937 thousand people fled along the Malaga-Almeria highway from the fascist bombardment
*Between 3,000 and 5,000 people were killed during “La Desbanda”
*Road from Murcia to north of France is also full of missing persons
*Between 3,000 and 5,000 people were killed during “La Desbanda”
*Road from Murcia to north of France is also full of missing persons
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NewsTranscript
00:00In Andalusia, February is the month of La Desbandada, a date in which memory, justice,
00:05and reparation for the victims of the fascist forces during the biggest massacre of the
00:10civil war are still being demanded. Our colleague Lucia Muñoz brings us more information.
00:19The philosopher and writer Maria Zambrano, born in Andalusia, transformed the way we
00:25understand reality in the 20th century through her work. At the end of the civil war,
00:30after Franco's persecution and genocide, she was forced into exile in Mexico, Cuba, and Puerto Rico.
00:40It is true that she had established that her homeland was the exile. She settles in exile.
00:45Really, if we think about it, it is more than 40 years that she will be living more living
00:49in those countries where she could work, give courses, lectures, conferences, and write articles.
00:54But contrary to what it may seem, her philosophical message is not installed in
00:58rancor nor in hatred, but she is a woman who speaks of hope, love, peace.
01:09In February 1937, like Zambrano, thousands of people fled along the Malaga-Almeria Highway
01:15from the bombardment by air and sea of the fascist forces, an unprecedented massacre in
01:21Spain known as La Desbanda. The Association for the Democratic Military Memory has demanded the
01:27Ministry of Defense to exhume the pro-Franco admirals responsible for these war crimes
01:33from the military mausoleum and honors, in accordance with the law of democratic memory,
01:38which they have not complied with.
01:43Therefore, they are ultimately responsible for the war crimes committed by the rebel navy during
01:48the war. In particular, the naval bombardment that massacred the terrified civilian population
01:54in the disbandment episode. The two brothers Moreno from the cruisers and Cervera from Franco's general staff.
02:05During the Desbanda, also known as the Andalusian Guernica, between 3,000 and 5,000 people were
02:12killed in that journey of horror. There is no exact inventory with the data of the force
02:17disappearances that took place in this massacre. In Andalusia alone, according to Fernando Martinez
02:23of the University of Almeria, more than 57,000 people were executed at the hands of Franco.
02:35As long as Spain continues to be one of the countries that has the most problems with memory,
02:39Spain will continue to be a country in democratic terms with deficiencies that go far beyond being
02:44the second country with graves and force disappearances after Cambodia.
02:54The exile of the Desbanda was not only from Malaga to Almeria,
02:58but the road from Murcia to the north of France is also full of missing persons from this war.