Exhumation of the bodies of four civilians killed in October 1936 and buried in a mass grave in Adradas

• The subdelegate highlights the political and moral commitment of the Government of Spain to the victims and their relatives recalls that all institutions must comply with the Law of Democratic Memory

March 14, 2024.- This morning began the exhumation of the bodies of a mass grave of Adradas in which there would be, according to data collected by the memorialist association Remembrance and Dignity, four civilians killed in October 1936. They were Estanislao Gil Guerrero, teacher of Aguaviva de la Vega; Juan García Gutiérrez, councillor of Iruecha; the son of Ángel Sanz Sanz, ashlar of Arcos de Jalón, and a doctor from the town of Arcobrigense. The subdelegate of the Government in Soria, Miguel Latorre, has been present in these exhumation works.

The remains found in the surveys carried out last July had been collected by the Judicial Police of the Civil Guard at the request of the Court of Instruction of Almazán. These exhumation works, which are carried out at the request of the relatives of disappeared persons, killed and buried clandestinely during the Civil War and the Franco regime, are carried out by Remembrance and Dignity, with the help of the Aranzadi Science Society.

The exact place where this common pit was found is on a road to Alcubilla de las Peñas, at the height of kilometer 172 of the old national road N-111.

EXHUMATIONS

The Government of Spain has been calling for aid to local entities to carry out activities related to the recovery of democratic memory. These grants from the State Secretariat of Democratic Memory are to carry out actions in different areas of research, collection of testimonies, prospecting, exhumation and analysis of remains.

According to Miguel Latorre, “it is clear the political and moral commitment of the Government of Spain to the victims of the Civil War and the subsequent dictatorship and the determined will to place the victims of war and dictatorship at the center of public policies of memory. All this with the aim of repairing as soon as possible the pain of those who have spent decades trying to recover the remains of their loved ones to give them a dignified burial.”

The subdelegate has also stated that Law 20/2022, of 19 October, on Democratic Memory makes clear in its article 35 what are considered symbols and elements contrary to democratic memory (buildings, constructions, shields, badges, plates, toponyms…) and has requested the collaboration of public administrations: “All institutions have to comply with the law.” Article 37 refers to the procedure for the withdrawal or elimination of these elements that are contrary to democratic memory.